Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay was born in the Haida village of Qquuna about 1827. During Skaay’s lifetime, the face of Haida Gwaii was transformed but the traditions he was born to and grew up with were those of the precolonial, preindustrial, preliterate Haida world. So great were his talents as a storyteller and poet that he remains the most important figure in all of Haida literature.