Sinxii’ gangu is the play that started it all for K’aalts’ida K’ah.  Beginning with a big idea to put Haida storytelling on the stage, brothers Jaalen and Gwaai Edenshaw set to work scripting, art directing and executing a production with an all Haida cast supported by talented crew from the community.

The effort took five years to see through.  Working with Ts’inii Stephen, Norma Adams, and Naanii Mary Swanson, they began by translating the script back and forth, from English into Haida, Haida back into English, and back to Haida and on through several iterations as new ideas came up and their understanding of Haida language and culture deepened.  Jenny Nelson played a key role in supporting the realization of the project through obstacles and time.  And eventually a full cast and crew of over fifty people came together to rehearse and perform the play.

It was in this first creative collaboration, having survived it, that Jaalen and Gwaai created the K’aalts’ida K’ah Haida Storytelling Society with the goal of continuing their work to explore Haida language and culture and encourage young Haidas to take up the thread passed down by their ancestors.