of as few as two large plank houses to 20 or more such houses. Usually, villages were located near ideal fishing locations. The Haidas sea-worthy canoes provided them with considerable mobility, which allowed for villages to be located away from lakes and streams.
Unlike many Indian communities, Haida villages were not corporate units under the leadership of a single chief. Instead, the Haida villages were composed along family lineages, each of which was an autonomous social, political and economic unit. The head of a lineage holding title to a village site was recognized as the "town master." The town master lacked any direct authority over other groups or lineages, which were free to migrate to any new site where the lineage would select its own town master. Boundaries between lineages were drawn through competitive relationships within and across villages, sometimes including violent feuds. Haida social organization at this period in history were based on hereditary succession to the chiefship positions of a lineage
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