The Council of the Haida Nation has circulated a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Haida Nation for a Special House of Assembly on Aug. 26, 2025. The submission window is closed, and the package has been mailed in HlG̱aagilda/Skidegate, delivered door to door in G̱aw Tlagée/Old Massett, and emailed to citizens on the CHN list.
Under Article 17, any amendment requires approval at a House of Assembly by a three-quarters majority of eligible voters present. Minor or administrative edits require a widely advertised two-month notice. Substantive changes require four public readings over two years, two of them at the House of Assembly, with each reading advertised at least one month in advance.
One proposal would add a new “Supreme Law” section titled Article X: Unilateral Secession from Alliances. Submitted by Paul Biron, it would recognize a secession clause as supreme law and reserve a right for the Haida Nation to withdraw from alliances, treaties, agreements or other formal associations with external entities in defined circumstances. The list includes war or civil unrest, terrorism, civil war, martial law within an allied nation, government coup or collapse, financial collapse, an EMP event, disease outbreak, a prolonged internet crash, genocide or cultural genocide, violations of natural laws, and other threats that could disrupt governance or stability. The draft also sets out contingency measures for international recognition, conflict mitigation, emergency provisions, and protection of simple fee land. It affirms sovereignty, commits to peaceful coexistence, calls for a ten year review cycle, and outlines safeguards against coercion, economic plans, social supports, legal preparedness, and cultural preservation.
A separate proposal from Michael Nicoll Yaghujaanas would expand council representation under A5.S3 to include one representative of Kaigani, acknowledging Haida citizens in what is now Alaska.
Two citizen engagement submissions target resource governance. A6.S6 would be revised to require land and ocean policies consistent with the Laws of the Haida Nation and with nature’s ability to produce. A6.S8 would require processes for the use and allocation of potential benefits from Haida Gwaii resources to be implemented, monitored and regulated, with wording clarifying that benefits involve citizens of Haida Gwaii and other users.
Another proposal, from Roberta Aiken, would revise Article 3, Section 8, informally titled “Luke’s Law.” It keeps the protection that no natural-born Haida citizen can have citizenship removed solely on ancestry or origin. It would add that citizenship and the right to reside within Haida territories may be revoked in cases of serious harm, sustained violence, or criminal activity that endangers others, through a collective and accountable process involving the CHN, hereditary leadership, and matriarchs, in accordance with Haida Law and Governance.
The current constitution was adopted Oct. 18, 2023. It opens with the Haida Proclamation and includes translations in HlGaagilda Xaayda Kil and Gaw Xaad Kil, credited to the Skidegate Haida Immersion Program.
