Haida Manga - History and Style

History and Style

Haida Manga has been recently popularized by artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas who is considered as the father of Haida Manga, making its first debut in 2001 in his book, A Tale of Two Shaman which led to a series of exhibits (such as at Expo 2005 and Tokyo Designers Week 2003) and multiple print runs in Japan and Korea. Asian interest in the graphic appeal of Haida design is enhanced by the narratives which advocate a hopeful and empowering message. Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas expresses his own interest in Haida Manga in that it is "not part of the settler tradition of North America (like Archie or Marvel comics, for example)".

Haida Manga may also appear as ink or watercolor on paper, and has also shown up on reassembled automobile parts and disassembled bone trays displayed in the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. A more recent ink on paper version appeared as a book called Flight of the Hummingbird - A Parable for the Environment. It was released in 2008 and soon became available in five languages including English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean. It was also featured in an animated version on Youtube, narrated by Lark Clark and animated by Chris Auchter.

While Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas remains the main author of Haida Manga, the popularization of his works and efforts over the years have sparked interest in general Haida narrative and art form, leading to other works such as Raven Steals the Light, an animation telling the traditional Haida legend of the creation of the sun, the moon, and the stars, created by Thomas Oz and narrated by Kristin.