played a significant role in trading, particularly as they could hold property independently of their husbands. Given the acknowledged role of men as traders, however, it may be that they represented their wives in exchange and that the dominant role of women reflects the latter’s interest in their own property.
Dawson downplayed the general economic contribution of Haida women, noting that “… the women do not contribute materially to the support of the family, attending only to the accessory duties of curing and preserving the fish …” (1880:130B). Swanton suggests the symbolic importance of woman’s freedom from economic activities in the following remark: “A young, unmarried woman was not allowed to do much work, and lay in bed a great deal of the time. This was so that she might marry a chief, and always have little work to do” (1909:50). From Florence Davidson’s comments it seems unlikely that even a high-ranking woman would actually have little work to do. Though she might have slaves to gather firewood and assist in the processing of fish and other foods, the desire for prestige and the ambition characteristic of the Haida spurred all toward the accumulation of wealth and surplus resources. Florence’s remark that “we try all our best for our children” applies equally to the aboriginal Haida whose paramount concern was securing a place for their children in the social order. Neither is Dawson’s comment that women do not contribute materially to the support of the family an accurate assessment of the economic position of Haida women. The ability of a woman to process foods, particularly fish, was of considerable concern to all. A woman adept at slicing and drying fish was greatly admired for her skills. Furthermore, the limitations on the quantity of salmon a household could garner for winter stores was dependent not upon the number of fish that men could catch but on the number that women could practicably clean, slice, and dry. Thus female skills were critical to the ability of a household to provision itself and to lay aside a surplus for feasting and pot-latching.
Ceremonial Division of Labor
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