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30-733: The Kitasoo are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian people in Canada , who inhabit, along with the Xai'xais , the village of Klemtu , British Columbia . The name Kitasoo derives from the Tsimshian name Gidestsu , from git- (people of) and disdzuu, which refers to a large, tiered house-depression. The Kitasoo, along with the Gitga'ata Tsimshians at Hartley Bay , B.C., are often classed as " Southern Tsimshian ," their traditional language being

60-460: A language variety similar to Gitxsan and Nisga’a (two inland Tsimshianic languages ), but differentiated from the regional Tsimshian variations. In 2016, only 160 people in Canada were Tsimshian speakers. Some linguists classify Tsimshian languages as a member of the theoretical Penutian language group. Charles Duncan (captain) Charles Duncan was a British ship captain engaged in

90-475: A variety of activities was not uncommon prior to contact, and for some duration after contact into the 1920s. A battle ensued at Dungeness Spit near Port Townsend, WA where some Tsimshian were camped along the shore. One woman survived and was rescued by a lighthouse operator who later married her. The Tsimshian have a matrilineal kinship system, with a societal structure based on a tribe, house group and clan system. Descent and property are transmitted through

120-522: Is a stratified and ranked society. Early Euro-Canadian anthropologists and linguists had classified the Gitxsan and Nisga'a as Tsimshian, because of apparent linguistic affinities. The three were all referred to as "Coast Tsimshian", even though some communities were not coastal. These three groups, however, are separate nations. Tsimshian translates to "Inside the Skeena River " At one time

150-687: The The Tsimshian wanted to preserve their villages and fishing sites on the Skeena and Nass Rivers as early as 1879. They were not able to begin negotiating a treaty with the Canadian government until July 1983. A decade later, fourteen tribes united to negotiate under the collective name of the Tsimshian Tribal Council . A framework agreement was signed in 1997. Due to litigation by one community for commercial fisheries rights,

180-628: The Annette Island Reserve . The Tsimshian honor the traditional Tlingit name of Taquan for this recent location. Some citizens of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska are of Tsimshian heritage. Tsimshian society is matrilineal kinship -based, which means identity, clans and property pass through the maternal line. Their moiety -based societal structure is further divided into sub clans for certain lineages. The Tsimshian language has some 27 different terms for 'chief' likely because it

210-540: The Hawaiian Islands . While on the coast of present-day British Columbia Duncan and Colnett had a series of first contact encounters with some of the Kitkatla Tsimshian . In Hawaii Princess Royal and Prince of Wales were involved in several violent conflicts with the islanders; one conflict at Waimea Bay , resulted in the death of between five and fourteen Hawaiians . Duncan sketched

240-609: The Hudson's Bay Company moved their fort to modern-day Port Simpson in 1834, nine Tsimshian tribal chiefs moved to the surrounding area for trade advantage. Many of the Tsimshian peoples in Canada still live in these regions. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, epidemics of infectious disease contracted from Europeans ravaged their communities, as the First Nations had no acquired immunity to these diseases. The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic killed many of

270-606: The maritime fur trade and related exploration in the late 1780s. From 1786 to 1788 he was captain of Princess Royal , the tender for Prince of Wales , under James Colnett , both vessels owned by the King George's Sound Company . Colnett and Duncan acquired sea otter furs by trade with the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast , then sold them in Guangzhou (Canton), sailing there via

300-538: The yaawk (feast) for one specific event. Today in Tsimshian culture, the potlatch is held to honour deaths, burials, and succession to name-titles. The Tsimshian have four different types of feasts. The feast system is the agency for social reproduction, expression of law, the transmission of knowledge, and demonstration of the obligations for chiefs to provide stewardship for resources and attending to needs of communities. The planning and delivery of feast events requires very specific protocols, including those required for

330-492: The 2000s and lost their right to this traditional way of fishing. The majority of Tsimshian still live in the lower Skeena River watershed near Prince Rupert , as well as northern coastal BC. Some Tsimshian moved south into the Columbia River Basin mid-nineteenth century for picking hops and other agricultural crops. Many Tsimshian have moved into Seattle region from both AK and BC. Long distance canoe travel for

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360-663: The Kitasoo exploited numerous flora and fauna as food sources including the Whitebark Raspberry, Rubus leucodermis . Tsimshian The Tsimshian estimate there are 45,000 Tsimshian people and approximately 10,000 members are federally registered in eight First Nations communities (including the Kitselas, Kitsumkalum, Gitxaala, Gitga'at at Hartley Bay , and Kitasoo at Klemtu ) Lax Kw'Alaams, and Metlakatla, BC . The latter two communities resulted in

390-801: The Metlakatla Indian Community voted to retain their rights to land and water, and opted out of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA); they have the only Native reservation in Alaska. The Metlakatla Tsimshian maintained their reservation status and holdings exclusive of the ANSCA. They do not have an associated Native Corporation, although Tsimshian in Alaska may be shareholders of the Sealaska Corporation . The Annette Islands Reserve

420-614: The Prince Rupert region. Gitxaala might have been the first Tsimshian village contacted by Europeans when Captain Charles Duncan and James Colnett arrived in 1787 although Russian fur traders may have visited northern groups earlier. The confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley Rivers was formerly the site of the Tsimshian village of Kitanmaks and became a new European settlement of Skeena Forks (today known as Hazelton). When

450-455: The Tsimshian had returned south to their homelands on the Skeena. After this low-water point, the Tsimshian population began to grow again, eventually to reach modern numbers comparable to the 1835 population estimate. However, the numbers of the inland Tsimshian peoples are now higher than they were historically, while those of the Southern and Coastal Tsimshian are much lower. In the 1970s,

480-450: The Tsimshian harvested the abundant sea life, especially salmon . The Tsimshian became seafaring people, like the Haida . Salmon continues to be at the center of their nutrition, despite large-scale commercial fishing in the area. Due to this abundant food source, the Tsimshian developed permanent towns. They lived in large longhouses , made from cedar house posts and panels to withstand

510-417: The Tsimshian lived on the upper reaches of the Skeena River near present-day Hazelton , British Columbia. According to southern Tsimshian oral history , after a series of disasters befell the people, a chief led a migration away from the cursed land to the coast, where they founded Kitkatla Village , the first of three Southern Tsimshian villages. Kitkatla is still considered to be the most conservative of

540-459: The Tsimshian people. Altogether, one in four Tsimshian died in a series of at least three large-scale outbreaks. In 1835, the total population of the Tsimshian peoples was estimated at 8,500. By 1885, the population had dropped to 4,500, 817 of whom moved to Alaska two years later following Missionary William Duncan. In the 1880s the Anglican missionary William Duncan , along with a group of

570-459: The Tsimshian villages. The Nisga'a and Gitxsan remained in the upper Skeena region (above the canyon) near the Nass River and forks of the Skeena respectively, but other Tsimshian chiefs moved down the river and occupied all the lands of the lower Skeena valley. Over time, these groups developed a new dialect of their ancestral language and came to regard themselves as a distinct population,

600-590: The Tsimshian, left Metlakatla, British Columbia and requested settlement on Annette Island from the U.S. government . After gaining approval, the group founded New Metlakatla on Annette Island in southern Alaska. Duncan appealed to Congress to grant the community reservation status, which it did in the late 19th century. In 1895, the BC Tsimshian population stood at 3,550, while the Alaska Tsimshian population had dropped to 465 by 1900. Some of

630-546: The Tsimshian-proper. They continued to share the rights and customs of those who are known as the Gitxsan, their kin on the upper Skeena. The Tsimshian maintained winter villages in and around the islands of Prince Rupert Harbour and Venn Pass (Metlakatla). They returned to their summer villages along the lower Skeena River when the salmon returned. Archaeological evidence shows 5,000 years of continuous habitation in

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660-669: The berries of Vaccinium Vitis-idaea ssp. minus as food. The Tsimshian people of British Columbia encompass fifteen tribes: Some of the Chiefs of these nine tribes happened to be located at Fort Simpson (later Port Simpson, later Lax Kw'alaams , British Columbia)** Giluts'aaw when the Indian Agent assigned reserve communities. Other Chiefs were located at the mission created community of Metlakatla , with some subsequently migrating to Metlakatla, Alaska , newest tribe, with lineages from all Tsimshian tribes. The Tsimshian clans are

690-471: The colonial intersections of early settlers and consist of Tsimshian people belonging to the 'nine tribes.' The Tsimshian are one of the largest First Nations peoples in northwest British Columbia. Some Tsimshian migrated to the Annette Islands in Alaska, and today approximately 1,450 Alaska Tsimshian people are enrolled in the federally recognized Metlakatla Indian Community , sometimes also called

720-639: The federal government forced a confidentiality clause against other communities and caused dissolution of the main treaty group and subsequently the TTC. A subset of the Tsimshian First Nations continues to negotiate with the BC Treaty Commission to reach an Agreement-in-Principle that has alienated most members. The Tsimshian speak a language, called Sm'algyax , which translates as "real or true tongue". The Tsimshian also speak

750-467: The guests. It is untoward to hold out one's hand while payments (also known as 'gifts' by external observers) are being distributed. The Tsimshian have maintained their fishing and hunting lifestyle (although constrained by colonialism and declining fish and animal population abundances), art and culture, and are working to revitalize the common use of their language. Artists have excelled in traditional mediums and contemporary forms with pieces spread around

780-730: The maternal line. Hereditary chiefs obtain their rights through their maternal line through their mother's brother. Although it is inherited the protege must be trained for proper behavior and groomed well for specific obligations. No lineage should be sullied by inappropriate behaviors of high-ranking members. The marriage ceremony was an extremely formal affair, several prolonged and sequential ceremonies. Arranged marriages and births were common to protect rights of access to territories and resources. Some cultural taboos have related to prohibiting women and men from eating improper foods during and after childbirth. Several taboos still exist and are actively practiced. Like all Northwest Coastal peoples,

810-637: The southern dialect of the Tsimshian language . Their band government is the Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation , a member government of the Wuikinuxv-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council . The anthropologist Marius Barbeau recorded in 1947 that John Starr was of the "Klemtu" tribe and held the hereditary name Lagax'niitsk. Some information is known about the lifestyle and diet of the prehistoric Kitasoo based upon archaeological recovery. For example,

840-450: The wet climate. These were very large and usually housed an entire extended family. Tsimshian religion centered on the "Lord of Heaven", who aided people in times of need by sending supernatural servants to earth to aid them. The Tsimshian believed that charity and purification of the body (either by cleanliness or fasting ) was the route to the afterlife . The Tsimshian engage in the feast system or potlatch , which they refer to as

870-410: The world. These artisans practice the tradition of story telling with their chosen mediums. Like other coastal peoples, the Tsimshian fashioned most of their goods out of western red cedar , especially its bark . It could be fashioned into tools, clothing, roofing, armour, building materials, and canoe skins. They used cedar in their Chilkat weaving , which they are credited with inventing. They use

900-404: Was the only location in Alaska allowed to maintain fish traps according to traditional rights. The use of these were otherwise banned when Alaska became a state in 1959. The traps were used to gather fish for food for people living on the reservation. Legally the community was required to use the traps at least once every three years or lose the right permanently. They stopped the practice early in

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