Gitxsan
Gitxsan people on the banks of the Skeena River at Hazelton.(1901)
Total population
10,000 (est.) Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...
Regions with significant populations
Canada (British Columbia)
Language(s)
English, Gitxsanimaax
Religion(s)
Christianity, other

Gitxsan (also spelled Gitksan) are a people whose home territory is the upper Skeena River from about Kitselas Canyon to the Skeena Headwaters and its surrounding tributaries. The area is now considered part of west central British Columbia, Canada. Gitksan territory encompasses approximately 30,000 square kilometers of land.^[1]
Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour Without Sunset (diminishment)) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo - Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 36 - Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area  Ranked 5th - Total 944,735... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Gitxsan (or Gitxsanimaax) is a First Nations language of northwestern British Columbia. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... The Skeena River is the second longest river in British Columbia, Canada. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour Without Sunset (diminishment)) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo - Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 36 - Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area  Ranked 5th - Total 944,735...

Society and Culture

Gitxsan are a matrilineal society that consists of Frog, Eagle, Wolf, and Fireweed Clans. Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's mother's lineage. A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant (of either sex) in which the individuals in all intervening generations are female. In a matrilineal descent Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ... For other uses, see Clan (disambiguation). ...

There are approximately 10,000 worldwide with many living in traditional Gitxsan territory. Many also live elsewhere in British Columbia, in places such as nearby Terrace, Smithers, and down in Vancouver, as well as around the world.
Mayor Jack Talstra Councillors Lynne Christiansen Marylin Davies Brian Downie Carol Leclerc Rich McDaniel Brad Pollard Land area 42. ... Smithers is a town located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, approximately halfway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. ... This article refers to the city in British Columbia, Canada. ...

Eighty per cent of the people living on the lands surrounding Kitselas Canyon to the Skeena headwaters are Gitxsan ('People of the River Mist') and archaeological evidence supports a continuous habitation of at least 10,000 years. Their traditional language is called Gitxsanimaax.
Gitxsan (or Gitxsanimaax) is a First Nations language of northwestern British Columbia. ...

Title and Treaties

The aboriginal title rights of the Gitxsan and their neighbours, the Wet'suwet'en, were affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in its 1997 Delgamuukw decision.
Wetsuweten (also known as Hwotsotenne, Witsuwiten, Wetsuweten, Wetsuweten) are an Athabascan-speaking people, on Bulkley River and around Francois Lake, Babine Lake, and Takla Lake, in Northwestern British Columbia. ... The Supreme Court of Canada (French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system. ... Court membership Chief Justice: Antonio Lamer Puisne Justices: Gérard La Forest, Claire LHeureux-Dubé, John Sopinka, Charles Gonthier, Peter Cory, Beverley McLachlin, Frank Iacobucci, John C. Major Reasons given Majority by: Lamer C.J. Joined by: Cory and Major J. Concurrence/dissent by: McLachlin J. Concurrence/dissent by...

To date, a treaty agreement between the Gitxsan Nation and the Federal Government of Canada and Provincial Government of British Columbia has not been reached. Gitxsan Nation is a micronation located in the Skeena Watershed of British Columbia, Canada. ...

Communities

Some of the Gitxsan villages are:

• Gitanmaax
• Gitanyow
• Gitsegukla
• Gitwangak
• Glen Vowell
• Hagwilget
• Hazelton
• Kispiox

Gitseguecla, BC from Highway 16 Kitseguecla (also Gitsegukla, Gitseguecla, Kitsegukla and Skeena Crossing) is a Gitxsan community of about 500 at the confluence of the Kitseguecla and Skeena Rivers, approximately 40km southwest of Hazelton, British Columbia. ... The Bulkley River (left) flowing into the Skeena River (right) near Ksan Ksan Historical Village // Hazelton is a small town located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. ... Kispiox, BC Kispiox is a Gitxsan village of approximately 550 in the Kispiox Valley at the confluence of the Kispiox and Skeena Rivers in British Columbia. ...

Prominent Gitxsan (and people of Gitxsan descent)

• Gordon Sebastian, "Luutkudziiwus" ~ Hereditary Chief/Lawyer.
• Simon Gunanoot, long sought-after fugitive later cleared of wrongdoing
• Walter Harris, Hereditary chief and artist/carver
• Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, Artist/carver
• Earl Muldoe (Delgamuukw), Hereditary Chief (Delgamuukw v. British Columbia)

Simon Gunanoot {on left} at the Hazelton First Nations Cemetery Simon Gunanoot was a prosperous Gitxsan man and a merchant in the Kispiox Valley region of Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada. ... This article is about the Canadian First Nations artist. ... Killer Whale, 2006 Nathaniel P. Wilkerson (b. ... Delgamuukw v. ...

Bibliography

• Adams, John W. (1973) The Gitksan Potlatch: Population Flux, Resource Ownership and Reciprocity. Toronto: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston of Canada.

• Barbeau, Marius (1928) The Downfall of Temlaham. Toronto: MacMillan.

• Barbeau, Marius (1929) Totem Poles of the Gitksan, Upper Skeena River, British Columbia. Ottawa: Canada, Department of Mines.

• Beynon, William (2000) Potlatch at Gitsegukla: William Beynon’s 1945 Field Notebooks. Ed. by Margaret Anderson and Marjorie Halpin. Vancouver: U.B.C. Press.

• Bookbuildes of 'Ksan (1977) We-Gyet Wanders On: Legends of the Northwest. Saanichton, B.C.: Hancock House Publishers.

• Cove, John J. (1982) "The Gitksan Traditional Concept of Land Ownership." Anthropologica, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 3-17.

• Daly, Richard (2005) Our Box Was Full: An Ethnography for the Delgamuukw Plaintiffs. Vancouver: UBC Press.

• Duff, Wilson (ed.) (1959) Histories, Territories and Laws of the Kitwancool. Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum.

• Gibson, John Frederic (1972) A Small and Charming World. Toronto: Collins Publishers.

• Glavin, Terry (1990) A Death Feast in Dimlahamid. Vancouver: New Star Books.

• Harris, Christie (1975) Sky Man on the Totem Pole? New York: Atheneum.

• Harris, Kenneth B. (1974) Visitors Who Never Left: The Origin of the People of Damelahamid. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

• Monet, Don, and Ardythe Wilson (1992) Colonialism on Trial: Indigenous Land Rights and the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en Sovereignty Case. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers.

• Sterritt, Neil J., et al. (1998) Tribal Boundaries in the Nass Watershed. Vancouver: U.B.C. Press.

See Also

• Gitxsan Nation
• Gitxsan Language

Gitxsan Nation is a micronation located in the Skeena Watershed of British Columbia, Canada. ... Gitxsan (also spelled Gitksan) are a people whose home territory is the upper Skeena River from about Kitselas Canyon to the Skeena Headwaters and its surrounding tributaries. ...

References

1. ^ Gitxsan Chiefs - Who We Are - Recent History

External links

• Gitxsan Nation website