Haida Church

The Haida Church (Haida: X̱aaydag̱a Chāaj Nāay) is the official name of both the most widespread faith in the Haida Gwaii and amongst the Haida people, and the state-sponsored institution promoting and enabling the faith, which the Government of Haida Gwaii recognises as the state religion of Haida Gwaii and the national religion of the Haida people. The Haida Church's doctrine, often called "Haidism" when referring specifically to the faith and its beliefs and practices, is a syncretic religion which blends elements of Western, most Protestant Christian theology with the pre-contact traditional beliefs and religious practices of the Haidas; for example, Haidism is monotheistic, teaching that the universe is the creation of a single omnipotent and omniscient God, who has over the millennia come to many different polities and/or civilisations in various manifestations, including as seemingly different gods (as if from polytheistic dogma), prophets, or seemingly regular persons or people accompanied by miracles, to guide humankind toward spiritual awakening and ultimate salvation. Haidism teaches that both reincarnation and an eternal Abrahamic-style afterlife are realities, which according to Haidist dogma is not at all contradictory.