Editing Haida people (section)

==== Smallpox epidemic of 1862 ====
{{Main|1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic}}
The [[1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic]] began on March 26 when a steamship called ''Brother Jonathan'' arrived in [[Fort Victoria (British Columbia)|Fort Victoria]] from [[San Francisco]] containing a passenger infected with [[smallpox]].<ref>{{cite news |date=1862-03-26 |title=Quarantine |url=https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist18620326uvic |access-date=2024-12-15 |work=[[Times Colonist|Daily British Colonist]] |page=2 |language=en |publication-place=Victoria, BC |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> At the time thousands of Indigenous people lived in villages outside the walls of Fort Victoria. The disease broke out amongst [[Tsimshian]] people in their community near Fort Victoria. This quickly spread into a pandemic. European public health standards at the time were well practiced and adhered-to official health standards, including vaccinations and victims isolation. Instead, as the disease spread, Victoria Police burned some one dozen homes, deliberately displacing 200 Haida on May 13. They went on to burn some 40–50 more indigenous villages the following day.<ref>{{cite news |date=1862-05-14 |title=The Small Pox |url=https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist18620514uvic |access-date=2024-12-15 |work=[[Times Colonist|British Colonist]] |location=Victoria, BC |page=3 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

First Nations from further north had been camping periodically outside the city limits of Victoria to take advantage of trade, and at the time of the epidemic numbered almost 2000, many of whom were Haida. The colonial government made no effort to [[Smallpox vaccine|vaccinate]] the First Nations in the region nor to [[quarantine]] anyone infected. In June, the encampments were forcibly cleared by police, and 20 canoes of Haidas, many of whom were likely already infected with smallpox, were forced back to Haida Gwaii, escorted by gunboats HMS ''Grappler'' and ''Forward''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lange |first=Greg |date=2003-02-04 |title=Smallpox Epidemic of 1862 among Northwest Coast and Puget Sound Indians |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/5171 |access-date=2024-12-12 |work=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref> Those infected did not make it home, according to the plans of the colonial governments, and passed on at [[Bones Bay]] near Alert Bay.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weir |first=Candace |date=March 2009 |title=For those of us at Bones Bay |url=https://www.haidanation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jl_mar.09.pdf |journal=Haida Laas |publisher=[[Council of the Haida Nation]] |pages=23–27 |access-date=2024-12-16}}</ref>

Later on a group of copper miners travelled from [[Bella Coola, British Columbia|Bella Coola]] aboard the ''Leonede'' under command of Captain McAlmond.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 20, 1862 |title=Indian Troubles |url=https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist18621020uvic |access-date=2024-12-15 |work=[[Times Colonist|British Colonist]] |location=Victoria, BC |pages=3 |language=en |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> The boat took 12 passengers in December. One of these passengers carried smallpox to Haida Gwaii. This might not have been a disaster should the infected miner have stayed in isolation at the mining site on {{langr|hai|Sḵʼin G̱aadll}}, or Skincuttle Island. Instead the disease was spread throughout Haida Gwaii.

The disease quickly spread throughout Haida Gwaii, devastating entire villages and families, and creating an influx of refugees. The pre-epidemic population of Haida Gwaii was estimated to be 6,607, but was reduced to 829 in 1881.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ostroff |first=Joshua |date=2017-08-01 |title=How a smallpox epidemic forged modern British Columbia |url=https://macleans.ca/news/canada/how-a-smallpox-epidemic-forged-modern-british-columbia/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |work=[[Maclean's]]}}</ref> The only two remaining villages were [[Masset]]t and [[Skidegate]]. The population collapse caused by the epidemic weakened Haida sovereignty and power, ultimately paving the way for colonization.