Old Massett, named G̱aw in
X̱aad kíl, is an
Indigenous Canadian village on
Graham Island in
Haida Gwaii,
British Columbia. It lies on the east side of
Masset Sound close to the town of
Masset; the area of land it is on is legally designated Masset Indian Reserve No. 1, or Masset 1. The original name of the settlement was Uttewas, meaning "white-slope village" in the
Haida language. It is populated by
Haida people of both Ḵuustak, the Eagle
matrilineage, and Ḵayx̱al, the Raven matrilineage. The town is administered by the
Old Massett Village Council. Its population has fluctuated over the last one hundred and fifty years; smallpox, especially the
1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic, drastically reduced its numbers in the late 1800s, but in 1968, it had over 1,000 people and was the largest village in Haida Gwaii.[1] In 2009, the Village Council counted 2,698 band members in the area;[2] the 2016 census counted 555 living at the Old Massett townsite.[3]