Moresby Coast

The coast of Moresby Island is cut by inlets and sheltered by the smaller islands of southern Haida Gwaii. Haida villages stood along these shores, among them T'aanu and K'uuna, known to visiting traders as Tanu and Skedans. Cedar houses faced the water, and canoes carried people between villages, fishing grounds and neighbouring coasts.

From the late 1780s, British and American vessels sought the sea otter pelts hunted by the Haida. Ships visited villages along eastern Moresby Island, exchanging goods prized by their hosts for furs destined for distant markets. Cumshewa Inlet took its English name from the Haida chief G'omshewah, whose name appears in traders' accounts from 1787. The trade brought wealth as well as profound changes, and the intense demand greatly reduced the sea otter population.