Gitxaała

The Gitxaała (People of the sea),[1][2] are located on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, and inhabit the village of Lax Klan. Gitxaała don’t refer to themselves as Tsʼmsyen (meaning ‘Inside the Skeena River’).

Stories recording this encounter tell of the acquisition of the hereditary name Heel by the Gispwudwada (Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) House (extended matrilineal family) of Ts'ibasaa, from an English ship's captain.[3][4]

In the more recent period, one holder of the name Heel also assumed rights over the Gispwudwada chief name Seeks, which represents another Gitxaała Gispwudwada (Blackfish Clan) house group.[5]

One holder of the title Ts'ibasaa was Joshua Ts'ibasaa, who died in 1936. The anthropologist Viola Garfield has published a detailed description of his mortuary potlatch.[6]: 252 

Garfield also describes the House of Ts'ibasaa's genealogical merging with another Gispwudwada (Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) house group, the house of Nisweexs (Ts’ibasaa’s nephew) in the Ginadoiks tribe of Ts’msyen at Lax Kw'alaams (Port Simpson), B.C.[6]

A large amount of information on the hereditary names, territories, and oral traditions of the Gitxaała people was collected in 1916 by William Beynon, a Ts’msyen chief and translator in the employ of the ethnologist Marius Barbeau. [7]

The Gitxaała people primarily live in Lax Klan, their main winter (and now permanent) village, and is a large and thriving community.[8] Currently, most community members live away from the village, in 1983, the population of Lax Klan in 1983 was 493, while the band population was 1005.[9] In 2006 the population of Lax Klan was 415.[10]

It has temporarily suspended treaty negotiations with the British Columbia government.

Other Gitxaała house-groups include:

  • House of Ayaamax - Ganhada (Raven Clan)
  • House of Dzagmgishaaytks – Ganhada (Raven clan)
  • House of La'ooy – Ganhada (Raven clan)
  • House of Ts'ibasaa – Gispwudwada (Blackfish or Killerwhale clan)

Prominent people of Gitxaała ancestry

  • Joshua Ts’ibasaa, mansm’ooygidm Gitxaała (head chief of Gitxaała)
  • William Ewart Gladstone Shakes (hereditary chief Seeks)
  • Edward Gamble, hereditary chief (Ts'ibasaa, Heel, Seeks)
  • Russell Gamble, hereditary chief and ANBT - basketball administrator (Heel)

References

  1. ^ "Gitxaala Nation | BC Assembly of First Nations". bcafn.ca. British Columbia Assembly of First Nations. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  2. ^ "Gitxaala Nation homepage". Gitxaala Nation. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  3. ^ Brown, Dorothy (1979). Dudoward, Pauline; Dunn, John; Helin, Verna; Hill, Ernie; Hutchingson, Vonnie; Marsden, Susan; Robinson, Beatrice; Tarpent, Marie-Lucie; Wilson, Mildred (eds.). Adawx of Sabaan (print, PDF) (in English; Sm'algyax). Translated by Dunn, John. drafts reviewed by Tsimshian Sm'oogit and Elders of Gitk'a'ata, Gitkxaata, Laxtgu'alaams, and Maxtakxaata. Vancouver, Canada: University of British Columbia. pp. 163–166. Retrieved 2 January 2026.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  4. ^ Barbeau, Marius; Beynon, William (1987). Cove, John J.; MacDonald, George F. (eds.). Tsimshian narratives: volume 2: Trade and warfare. Mercury. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. pp. 158–159. ISBN 9781772824261.
  5. ^ Miller, Jay (1997). Tsimshian Culture: A Light Through the Ages. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 19. ISBN 080323192X. OCLC 53161285.
  6. ^ a b Garfield, Viola E. (1939). "Tsimshian Clan and Society". University of Washington Publications in Anthropology. 7 (3). Seattle: University of Washington: 167–340. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  7. ^ Nowry, Laurence (1995). Marius Barbeau, Man of Mana: A Biography. Toronto: NC Press. pp. 163–166. ISBN 1-55021-100-5 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Menzies, Charles R. (2010). "Dm sibilhaa'nm da laxyuubm Gitxaała: Picking abalone in Gitxaała territory" (PDF). Human Organization. 69 (3). Society for Applied Anthropology: 213–220. doi:10.17730/humo.69.3.g68p1g7k40153010 (inactive 15 January 2026). Retrieved 10 January 2026.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2026 (link)
  9. ^ "Registered Indian population by band, responsibility centre, region, language or dialect, and linguistic group: 1979‑1983 (R1‑98‑1983)" (PDF). Government of Canada Publications. Reserve and Trusts, Indian and Inuit Affairs Program, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  10. ^ "Gitxaała Nation (Population Characteristics)". First Nation Profiles. Indigenous Services Canada. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2026.

Sources

  • Barbeau, Marius (1950) Totem Poles. 2 vols. (Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada.
  • Inglis, Gordon B., et al. (1990) "Tsimshians of British Columbia since 1900." In Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 7: Northwest Coast, pp. 285–293. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.

Further reading

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