Round tables, cultural exchanges and discussions about pressing issues such as land rights and the environment are planned during the seven days.
"They put us kind of front and centre on it, I guess because of the fight we've been going through, and the successes in the court and on the land," Guujaaw, president of the Council of Haida Nations, said last week before the group left for France.
Mix of politics and culture
In the 1980s, the Haida were instrumental in having about half of Moresby Island, or Gwaii Haanas, set aside as a protected wilderness area, a success that caught the imagination of indigenous people around the world.
"Our people are all very political because that is the first priority. You make sure that the culture will survive," Guujaaw told CBC Radio.
Haida art is also catching international attention, with a lucrative market in Europe and a landmark display of work from the last 200 years being mounted at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
"It's a funny situation where governments can't just push us aside and do as they please. Of course we take full advantage of that and we've been pushing back," Guujaaw said.
Among the Haida's cultural contributions to the conference is a totem pole by Haida carver Jim Hart, to be raised to honour the people of Pau.
Works from different contemporary Haida artists, and from the legendary Bill Reid, one of those responsible for the renaissance of Haida art, are on exhibit.
But the Haida don't separate their culture from their political struggle or the survival of their people.
"There's no Haida word for art because it's part of everything in our life," says Nika Collison, co-chair of the Haida Repatriation Committee, which is working to bring art and artifacts home from museums abroad.
Desire to repatriate art
An exhibit of work by popular photographer Francois Guenet highlights the importance for the Haida of having their ancestors' bones and their art brought back to their own land.
There are 15 North American First Nations participating in the conference, among them the Inuit, who are holding workshops about building traditional kayaks and paddles.
Inuit throat singing and Haida drum performances will be featured, alongside indigenous music from Brazil and Gascony.
A film festival will showcase works by First Nations filmmakers, as well as Jean Malaurie's Last Kings of Thule, which documents indigenous life in Greenland before the people were changed by modern ways.
This raven transformation mask of red cedar, fabric, feathers, foam, hair and metal is part of a show of Haida work at the Vancouver Art Gallery. (Trevor Mills/Vancouver Art Gallery) 
