View source for Gitxsan

{{Short description|Group of indigenous people in British Columbia, Canada}}
{{About|the ethnographic group|the language|Gitxsan language}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox ethnic group|
| group            = Gitxsan
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
| image            = Image:Githaz.jpg
| caption          = Gitxsan on the banks of the [[Skeena River]] at [[Hazelton, British Columbia|Hazelton]], 1901
| population       = 5,680 (2016 census)
| total_ref        = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=110522&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=122&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=Aboriginal Ancestry Responses (73), Single and Multiple Aboriginal Responses (4), Residence on or off reserve (3), Residence inside or outside Inuit Nunangat (7), Age (8A) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data|publisher=Government of Canada|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|language=en|access-date=2017-11-23}}</ref>
| popplace         = Canada<br>[[British Columbia]]
| rels             = Indigenous spirituality
| related_groups   =
| langs            = [[English language|English]]{{*}}[[Gitxsan language|Gitxsan]]
| related = [[Nisga'a]]
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|root=|person=|people=Gitx̱san|language=[[Gitxsan language|Gitxsanimaax]]|country=Gitx̱san Lax̱yip}}
'''Gitxsan''' (also spelled '''Gitksan''' and '''Kitksan''') are an [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous people]] in Canada whose home territory comprises most of the area known as the [[Skeena Country]] in English ({{lang|git|Git}}: means "people of" and {{lang|git|Xsan}}: means "the River of Mist"). Gitksan territory encompasses approximately {{convert|35,000|km2|abbr=on}} of land, from the basin of the upper [[Skeena River]] from about Legate Creek to the Skeena's headwaters and its surrounding tributaries.<ref>[http://www.gitxsan.com/html/who/people/history.htm Gitxsan Chiefs - Who We Are - Recent History]</ref>    Part of the [[Tsimshianic languages|Tsimshianic language group]], their culture is considered to be part of the civilization of the [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast]], although their territory lies in the [[British Columbia Interior|Interior]] rather than on the [[British Columbia Coast|Coast]].  They were at one time also known as the ''Interior Tsimshian'', a term which also included the [[Nisga'a]], the Gitxsan's neighbours to the north.  Their neighbours to the west are the [[Tsimshian]] (a.k.a. the Coast Tsimshian) while to the east the [[Wetʼsuwetʼen]], an Athapaskan<!--Don't link. It goes to the language--> people, with whom they have a long and deep relationship and shared political and cultural community.<!--want to mention the [[Gitxsan-Wet'su-we'ten Confederacy]] but no article yet-->
==Society and culture==
Gitxsan are a [[Matrilineality|matrilineal]] society that consists of Frog, Eagle, Wolf, and Fireweed [[Clan]]s. Each clan consists of a series of independent Houses (Wilp), each with their own High Chief, and traditional territories and fishing sites. Marriage within a clan is forbidden.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}
There are approximately 5,000 people [[British Columbia]] wide with many living in traditional Gitxsan territory. Many also live elsewhere in British Columbia, in places such as [[Terrace, British Columbia|Terrace]], [[Smithers, British Columbia|Smithers]], and in [[Vancouver]], as well as around the world.
Eighty per cent of the people living on the lands surrounding Legate creek 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 [[Gitxsan language|Gitxsanimaax]].
A museum known as [['Ksan]] displaying some traditional and modern Gitksan art and history is located on the [[Gitanmaax]] reserve near [[Hazelton, British Columbia|Hazelton]].
==Title and treaties==
The aboriginal title rights of the Gitxsan and their neighbours, the [[Wetʼsuwetʼen]], were affirmed by the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] in its 1997 [[Delgamuukw v British Columbia|Delgamuukw]] decision.
To date, a treaty agreement between the [[Gitxsan Nation]] and the Federal [[Government of Canada]] and [[Executive Council of British Columbia|Provincial Government of British Columbia]] has not been reached.
==Communities==
Some of the Gitxsan (Gitksan) villages are, divided by dialect:
Gitxsan dialect or Gitxsanimax̱, also known as Eastern Gitxsan dialect speaking bands in Gigeenix (eastern region):
*[[Hazelton, British Columbia#Old Hazelton and Two Mile|Old Hazelton]] (traditional name: Gitanmaax, [[Gitanmaax Band]])
*[[Kispiox]] (traditional name: Anspa'yaxw, [[Kispiox Band Council]])
*[[Glen Vowell]] (traditional name: Sik-e-Dakh, [[Gitxsan Treaty Society|Glen Vowell Indian Band]])
Gitsken dialect or Gitsenimx̱ , also known as Western Gitksan dialect speaking bands in Gyeets (western region):
*[[Gitanyow]] (formerly Kitwancool, [[Gitanyow Band]])
*[[Gitsegukla]] (formerly: Kitsegeucla, [[Gitsegukla Indian Band|Gitsegukla Indian Band (formerly Kitsegugkla)]])
*[[Kitwanga]] (traditional name: Gitwangak, [[Gitwangak Indian Band|Gitwangak Indian Band (formerly Kitwanga)]]) - the Gitksan community of [[Cedarvale, British Columbia|Cedarvale]] (traditional name: Minskinish or Meanskaniist) belong as Koonwat Indian Reserve No. 7 to the Gitwangak.
==Notable people of Gitxsan descent==
* [[Cindy Blackstock]]
* [[Simon Gunanoot]], long sought-after fugitive later cleared of wrongdoing
* [[Walter Harris (artist)|Walter Harris]], hereditary chief and artist/carver
* [[Doreen Jensen]], artist, carver, activist and educator
* [[Judith P. Morgan]], painter<ref name="Vancouver60s">{{cite web|url=http://vancouverartinthesixties.com/people/70|title=Judith Morgan|first=Belkin|last=Gallery|access-date=10 February 2017}}</ref>
* [[Angela Sterritt]], journalist
* Neil J. Sterritt, author and activist <ref name="Order of British Columbia, Neil J. Sterritt recipient 2017">{{cite web|url=http://orderofbc.gov.bc.ca/2017-recipient-neil-j-sterritt-150-mile-house|title=Neil J. Sterritt|first=Order of|last=British Columbia|access-date=6 November 2023}}</ref>
* [[Billy ThunderKloud & the Chieftones|Billy ThunderKloud]], singer/entertainer, Nashville recording artist, 1975 Outstanding Indian of the Year, hereditary chief
* Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, artist/carver,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nathaniel P. Wilkerson - Gitxsan Artist - About Us |url=http://www.wilkersonart.com/aboutus.html |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=www.wilkersonart.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nathaniel P. Wilkerson |url=https://stoningtongallery.com/artist/nathaniel-p-wilkerson/#archive |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Stonington Gallery |language=en-US}}</ref> engineer,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Medeek Design Inc. - Garage, Shop, Shed and Barn Plans |url=https://design.medeek.com |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=design.medeek.com}}</ref> programmer/developer<ref>{{Cite web |title=Medeek Design Inc. - Medeek Project |url=https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekprojectplugin.pl#Introduction |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=design.medeek.com}}</ref>
* [[Jean Virginia Sampare]], an abducted girl missing from Gitsegukla, British Columbia, Canada
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==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.&nbsp;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.
*Galois, Robert, and Neil J. Sterritt, (1998) [https://www.ubcpress.ca/tribal-boundaries-in-the-nass-watershed ''Tribal Boundaries in the Nass Watershed.''  Vancouver: U.B.C. Press.]
*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., (2020) [http://creekstonepress.com/index.php/publications/article/mapping_my_way_home_a_gitxsan_history ''Mapping My Way Home: A Gitxsan History.'' Smithers, BC: Creekstone Press.]
*Russell, Roy (2015)  ''Feast: A Gitksan Story''
==External links==
{{Commons category|Gitxsan}}
*[http://www.gitxsan.com/ Gitxsan Nation official website]
* [http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1385525/gitxsan-eviction-notice-to-sportsfishers-forestry-and-cn-rail Evictions]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Gitxsan| ]]
[[Category:Skeena Country]]