These musicians recorded a Christmas album with a Haida twist

A new limited-edition Christmas album with an Indigenous twist aims to introduce reconciliation to the holidays. 

Terri-Lynn and sGaanaGwa recently released Haida Solstice, which reimagines Christmas classics through the lens of Haida culture. 

"Christmas has come to symbolize everything that is commercial and capitalism, and I resisted it," said Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, lead singer and also a producer on the album, who says the project was requested by elders from the Skidegate Haida Immersion Program (SHIP).

"[But with the elders' persistence,] I thought this could be an opportunity to decolonize Christmas and add Haida world views and the Haida language."

From the artwork to the use of Xaayda Kil, the Haida language, to the Haida-centred interpretation of the original lyrics, Williams-Davidson says every aspect of the record features the coastal Indigenous culture. 

She hopes the process of decolonizing Christmas traditions through music will engage more people to learn about the Haida way of life. 

"For us, everything we do together is on the ground steps of reconciliation and learning more about each other and learning more about Haida culture," Williams-Davidson told CBC's Margaret Gallagher on North by Northwest.

Williams-Davidson credits the translations on the album to elders with SHIP, an initiative focused on preserving and revitalizing the Haida language. 

"It takes them a very long time to translate. There are very few fluent speakers, less than 20 in the whole world," she said. 

Haida Solstice showcases a variety of changes to Christmas classics, including lyrics in Silver Bells being changed from "it's Christmas time in the city" to specific locations in the Haida Nation, such as Skidegate and Masset. 

The differences between English and Xaayda Kil created some challenges, Williams-Davidson said, explaining that Little Drummer Boy, for example, went through many changes because Xaayda Kil doesn't have male or female pronouns. 

"We as a translator didn't say boy anywhere, and so we called [the song] Drummer," she said.

With translations in the works for other songs, Terri-Lynn and sGaanaGwa — who say they're inspired by jazz, blues, folk and rock — aim to record a full album for Christmas next year.

Producer Bill Henderson said sGannaGwa first started when he and Williams-Davidson began performing together in the 1960s, with producer Claire Lawrence completing the co-founding trio.