| Sgaana Xaaydagaay: Killer Whale people The Haida spirit world is inhabited by many creatures from the sea, known as Tsagan xaaydagaay, or the underwater people. |
  Killer whales.Sculpture in yellow cedar by Robert Davidson. |
 Killer whale (rhun),pencil drawing by Tom Price. |
| In their earthly form, the underwater people appear as halibut, sharks, sea lions and most other mammals and fish from the sea. | ||
| In the spirit world, however, they take the form of humans.
Sgaana xaaydagaay, the killer whale people, are among the most powerful of the people from the sea. |
 Killer whale/ Humantransformation. |
 Human/ killerwhale transformation. |
| Many stories tell of Haida ancestors putting on skins of killer whales to enter the realm of the spirit world, where killer whale people and humans visit, communicate and feast together. | ||
A model pole carved in yellow cedar by Robert Davidson shows killer whale in two states.  Variations onthe Killer whale Myth. |
At the bottom is the killer whale in animal form as in our world. Above it, it is in human form as in the spirit world. They share the same tail. Above them is Thunderbird. |
 (Killer whale in human form as in the spirit world) |
 (Killer whale in animal form as in our world) | ||
(The full scale version of this pole is one of three poles by Robert Davidson now in the PepsiCo International Sculpture Park in Purchase, New York.)
| ||