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THE GITK’A’ATA, THEIR HISTORY, AND THEIR TERRITORIES

REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE GITK’A’ATA

JANUARY 2012

BY SUSAN MARSDEN

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PREAMBLE

I have been asked by Peter Grant and Associates on behalf of Gitk’a’ata to undertake the following:

“For purposes of providing evidence to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Panel of Gitga'at title and rights, we would like you to provide an expert report. Because we are operating under severe time contraints in regard to the submission of evidence to the Panel, and because we are thus forced to focus on only those portions of Gitga'at territory where Enbridge's tankers pose the most persistent and significant threats to the Gitga'at people, we ask you to limit the geographic scope of your report to the land/marine areas along Douglas Channel beginning at Kitkiata Inlet and Hawkesbury Island (across the Channel from Kitkiata Inlet), south to the islands at the mouth of the Channel out to and including Campania Island.”

The structure of the report is as follows: § in the first section after the Introduction, section 2 (2.1-2.5), I address the Gitk’a’ata in the context of the Tsimshian and other Northwest coast nations and provide an overview of theTsimshian legal system as it concerns territorial ownership, and of the role of the adawx in this system and its relevance to this report. § in section 3 (3.1-3.5) I present a summary of the history of the founding peoples of Gitk’a’ata. It is the adawx, which are each owned, told, and perpetuated by the lineage leaders, that tell the history of their lineage and together these histories tell the history of the tribe, the region, the nation and other nations. They tell, among other things, the lineage’s place of origin, its migrations, the villages it has populated, its trade alliances, its rise to prominence or its fall, and its experiences of war and natural disasters. § in sections 4, 5 and 6 (4.1, 5.1-5.5, and 6.1-6.2), I provide a summary of the later lineages that joined the early Gitk’a’ata during two important periods of migration, and a brief reference to recent history. § in Sections 7 through 9, I provide an overview of the territories of the Gitk’a’ata in the geographical area along Douglas Channel beginning at Kitkiata Inlet and Hawkesbury Island (across the Channel from Kitkiata Inlet), south to the islands at the mouth of the Channel out to and including Campania Island.

A note about the Sm’algyax orthography: the orthography currently in use among the Tsimshian was introduced by John Dunn who has spent most of his career working on the language and with the Tsimshian. As a result there are no competing orthographies among the Tsimshian. Marie-Lucie Tarpent, a linguist who works with the southern Tsimshian at Kitasoo and with the Nisga’a, has contributed significantly to the understanding of the language and the importance of morphemes (the component words that make up most words). Most of the words in this report are from primary research materials written in the international linguistic orthography and have been rewritten in the current orthography by the author. Every effort has been made here to write the language as consistently and as faithfully as possible.

A note on the spelling of Gitk’a’ata: this word has been translated as Git – people of; k’a’at – cane waters, referring to the practice of touching the lineages cane to the territory as part of the ceremony at the time of its acquisition. This spelling is based on the orthography in use in the Barbeau-Beynon Fieldnotes and the Wilson Duff Files.

Modern spellings of key places are difficult to standardize as the use of the barred l (l), makes typing challenging, and underlining a letter and adding an umlaut (double dots above a letter) almost impossible. For example the “k” in Gitk’a’ata should probably be underlined, Gitk’a’ata. It is for this reason that there are often several spellings for a word that is in common use.

A note on legal perspective: this report is written entirely from the point of view of indigenous Northwest Coast law, not Canadian law. The Tsimshian are quite clear that they have their own system of law, ayaawx, concerning their rights and title. It is the elements of this law that are referred to in this report. The author does not in any way speak to Canadian law as it views aboriginal rights and title.

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This report draws extensively from several voluminous primary sources, those listed in the bibliography by Marius Barbeau, William Beynon and Wilson Duff. These sources are an almost unique collection of information from the chiefs, matriarchs and elders of Northwest Coast First Nations.1

1 The author has worked with these collections for almost 40 years.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 2. The Tsimshian 2.1 The Tsimshian and Other Northwest Coast Nations 2.2 The Tsimshian 2.3 The Tsimshian and their Territories 2.4 The Adawx, Northwest Coast Nations and the Tsimshian 2.5 Adawx in this Context 3. The Founding of Gitk’a’ata: The Early Peoples 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The Early Wolf Clan 3.3 The Early Raven Clan 3.4 The Early Gispwudwada Clan 3.5 The Early Eagle Clan 4. Gitk’a’ata and the Peoples from the Migration from Temlaxam 4.1 The Gispwudwada from Temlaxam 5. Invasion from the North 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The Gwinhuut Eagles 5.3 The Gitxhon Eagles 5.4 The Gwinhuut Wolves 5.5 Trade and a new Era 6. Recent History 6.1 Raiding between Nations 6.2 Arrival of Europeans, the Fur Trade and Missionaries 7. Gitk’a’ata Territories: Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u, Kwilts’oo, K’ts’iini, K’ts’ats’aas (S. End), & Kagaas Region 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u (Northwest Princess Royal Island) House of ‘Wahmoodeml/House of Nismuulx (Gispwudwada) 7.2.1 Territory: Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u (On Where Runs K’u’u (a river)) Surf Inlet & adjacent areas, N. end 7.2.2 Use Areas and Sites in Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u Territory 7.2.3 Marine Areas in Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u Territory 7.2.4 K’yel, in Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u Territory 7.2.5 Fish Traps in Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u Territory 7.2.6 Traplines in Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u Territory 7.2.7 Reserves in Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u Territory 7.3 Kwilts’oo (Northwest Princess Royal Island) House of ‘Wiinemoolk, Nisnam’o, Ts’uxka, ‘Wiihaywaaxs, Nisyagas, T’mgaw ( Ganeda) 7.3.1 Territory: Kwilts’oo, Cornwall Inlet (also called Rivers Bight) 7.3.2 Use Areas and Sites in Kwilts’oo Territory 7.3.3 Traplines in Kwilts’oo Territory 7.3.4 Archaeological Research in Kwilts’oo Territory 7.3.5 Discussion of Effects of Enbridge Project on K’ts’ats’aas Territory 7.4 K’ts’iini (Northwest Princess Royal Island) House of ‘Wiinemoolk, Nisnam’o, Ts’uxka, ‘Wiihaywaaxs, Nisyagas, T’mgaws (Ganeda) 7.4.1 K’ts’iini, Whalen Lake and watershed – western portion

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7.4.2 Traplines in K’ts’iini Territory 7.5 K’ts’ats'aas (Gil Island, S. End) House of ‘Wahmoodeml /House of Nismuulx (Gispwudwada) 7.5.1 Territory: K’ts’ats’aas - Gil Island 7.5.2 Use Areas and Sites in K’ts’ats’aas Territory (S. End) 7.5.3 Marine Areas in K’ts’ats’aas Territory (S. End) 7.5.4 Fish Traps in K’ts’ats’aas Territory (S. End) 7.5.5 Traplines in K’ts’ats’aas Territory (S. End) 7.5.6 Reserves in K’ts’ats’aas Territory (S. End) 7.5.7 Archaeological Research K’ts’ats’aas Territory (S. End) 7.6 Kagaas (Campania Island, East Side) House of Txatkwatk/House of Huhulk (Laxskiik) 7.6.1 Territory: Kagaas, K’ak’aas (Wings of … ) Campania Island – East Side 7.6.2 Use Areas and Sites in Kagaas Territory 7.6.3 Marine Areas in Kagaas Territory 7.6.4 Traplines: Kagaas Territory 7.6.5 Reserves: Kagaas Territory 8. Gitk’a’ata Territories - K’ts’ats’aas (N. End), Laxkwildziist, Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs, K’algiiu, K’i’idzul Region 8.1 Introduction 8.2 K’ts’ats'aas (Gil Island) (N. End) House of ‘Wahmoodeml/House of Nismuulx (Gispwudwada) 8.2.1 Territory: K’ts’ats’aas - Gil Island 8.2.2 Use Areas and Sites in K’ts’ats’aas Territory (N. End) 8.2.3 Marine Areas in K’ts’ats’aas Territory (N. End) 8.2.4 Reserves in K’ts’ats’aas Territory (N. End) 8.2.5 Archaeological Research K’ts’ats’aas Territory (N. End) 8.3 Laxkwildziist (Fin Island) House of Txatkwatk/House of Huhuulk (Laxskiik) 8.3.1 Territory: Laxkwildziist (On Where Squirting (clams on beach) Fin Island 8.3.2 Use Areas and Sites in Laxkwildziist Territory 8.3.3 Marine Areas in Laxkwildziist Territory 8.3.4 Reserves in Laxkwildziist Territory 8.4 Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs (SE Pitt Island, Farrant Island, Hinton Island) House of Txatkwatk/House of Huhuulk (Laxskiik) 8.4.1 Territory: Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs (Through Narrows Where Meet Strong Winds) 8.4.2 Use Areas and Sites in Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs Territory 8.4.3 Fish Traps on Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs Territory 8.4.4 Petroglyphs on Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs Territory 8.4.5 Traplines on Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs Territory 8.4.6 Archaeological Research in Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs Territory Gitk’a’ata 8.5 K’algiiu (Douglas Channel, West Side, Hartley Bay) House of ‘Wahmoodeml/House of Nismuulx (Gispwudwada) 8.5.1 Territory: K’algiiu (Douglas Channel, West Side) 8.5.2 Use Areas and Sites in K’algiiu Territory 8.5.3 Fish Traps on K’algiiu Territory 8.5.4 Reserves on K’algiiu Territory 8.6 K’i’idzul (Douglas Channel, West Side) House of ‘Wahmoodeml/House of Nismuulx (Gispwudwada) 8.6.1 Territory: Ki’idzul (Douglas Channel, West Side) 8.6.2 Use Areas and Sites in Ki’idzul Territory 5

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8.6.3 Fish Traps on Ki’idzul Territory 9. Gitk’a’ata Territories – K’waal, K’k’a’at, Kt’ulhon, K’wiits’m’aax, Ksuwii, K’nisiwulwal, K’tiskos Region 9.1 Introduction 9.2 K’waal (Douglas Channel, West Side, Quaal River) House of Wahmoodemh/House of Nismuulx (Gispwudwada) 9.2.1 Territory: K’waal (Douglas Channel, West Side 9.2.2 Use Areas and Sites on K’waal Territory 9.3 K’k’a’at (Douglas Channel, West Side, Kitkiata River and Kitkiata Inlet) House of Wahmoodeml/House of Nismuulx (Gispwudwada) 9.3.1 Territory: K’k’a’at, (Place of Cane) (Douglas Channel, West Side) 9.3.2 Use Areas and Sites in K’k’a’at Territory 9.3.3 Fish Traps on K’k’a’at Territory 9.3.4 Petroglyphs on K’k’a’at Territory 9.3.5 Archaeological Research on K’k’a’at Territory 9.3.6 Reserves on K’k’a’at Territory 9.4 K’tulhon (SW Hawkesbury Island) House of Txatkwatk/House of Huhuulk (Laxskiik) 9.4.1 Territory: K’tulhon (Where Salmon First Appear) Hawkesbury Island, SW Side 9.4.2 Use Areas and Sites in K’tulhon Territory 9.4.3 Traplines in K’tulhon Territory 9.4.4 Archaeological Research in K’tulhon Territory 9.5 K’wiits’m’aax (SW Hawkesbury Island) House of Txatkwatk/House of Huhuulk (Laxskiik) 9.5.1 Territory: K’wiits’m’aax (Place Large Mouth) Hawkesbury Island, SW Side 9.6 Ksuwii (NW Hawkesbury Island) House of ‘Wiinemoolk/ House of Nisnam’o/House of Ts’uxka/House of ‘Wiihaywaaxs/House of Nisyagas/House of T’mgaws (Ganeda) 9.6.1 Territory: Ksuwii Hawkesbury Island, NW Side 9.7 K’nisiwulwal (Douglas Channel, West Side) House of Txatkwatk/House of Huhuulk (Laxskiik) 9.7.1 Territory: K’nisiwulwal, Place of Dropping Water (Douglas Channel, West Side) 9.7.2 Use Areas and Sites in K’nisiwulwal Territory 9.8 K’tiskos (Douglas Channel, West Side) House of ‘Wahmoodeml/House of Nismuulx (Gispwudwada) 9.8.1 Territory: K’tiskos, Place of Refuge (Douglas Channel, West Side) 9.8.2 Use Areas and Sites in K’tiskos Territory 9.8.3 Traplines in K’tiskos Territory 10. Conclusion

Figure 1: Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u, Kwilts’oo and K’ts’iini Territories Figure 2: Kagaas and K’ts’atsaas (S. End) Territories Figure 3: K’ts’atsaas (N. End), Laxkwildziist, Maxla Ksatxalgaaxs, K’algiiu, K’i’idzul Territories Figure 4: Fish Traps and Habitation sites - Mouth of Douglas Channel Figure 5: K’waal, K’k’a’at, Kt’ulhon, Ksuwii, K’nisiwulwal, and K’tiskos Territories Figure 6: Gitk’a’ata Territories Showing Economic Regions Suggested by Current Data

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1. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this report is to provide overviews, first of the Gitk’a’ata system of land ownership and the cultural context in which it is embedded and by which it is validated (their legal system); and, second of the relationship of the Gitk’a’ata to their land from the ancient past through to the present (their economy). As requested by Peter Grant and Associates, the specific focus is on territories along Douglas Channel out to and including Campania Island. In order to address the Gitk’a’ata system of land ownership it is necessary to first describe the greater context, namely the identity of the Gitk’a’ata among other Northwest Coast peoples, and especially among the other tribes and regions of the Tsimshian, and then to examine how territory is acquired, acknowledged and retained among the Tsimshian.

Since knowing when and how territory was acquired is a necessary requirement of proof of ownership, a brief outline is provided of the histories and the origins of each of the Gitk’a’ata house groups. This section was very difficult to compose, as it was necessary to attempt to convey simply an extraordinarily complex and detailed body of information. All adawx are interrelated, as each one is only one group’s experience of a past shared with others at different times and places. It is only by examining the totality of extant adawx that one can confidently relate the history of one group and the chronology of their shared past.

In addition, over the last few decades efforts have been made to date key events in the adawx with archaeological research and, in the case of very recent events, written documents. It is unfortunate that no significant archaeological work has taken place in Gitk’a’ata territory as the dating of certain sites in particular would help date their adawx’s timeline, the oldest date at Fin Island and Gil island for example, and a sequence of dates at Laxgalts’ap. Nevertheless, the dating of major events in the shared history of the Tsimshian and Gitksan allows one to extrapolate in some cases to the Gitk’a’ata.

The adawx also provide a history of a group’s defence of their territory and of the legal means they used to include new peoples from time to time in their tribes. Thus both migration and invasion play a large part in the adawx. It is also important to remember that in the modern period, every protest, every negotiation, every concerted effort to conserve the ecology of the territories, and every method to access the benefits from them, constitute defence and stewardship of their territories and make up part of a group’s proof of ownership.

In the section relating to the Gitk’a’ata’s relationship to their territories, the information has been organized purposely by territory. Associated with the proof (within the Tsimshian legal system) of title, it is necessary to demonstrate intimate knowledge of the territory, a knowledge encapsulated in the names of areas and sites and detailed in descriptions of the ecology. An effort has been made here to translate as many names as possible to illustrate this point. This substantiation of ownership is strengthened by another order of information, namely accounts of the wealth of flora and fauna on the territory, which until recently sustained the group, site specific methods of harvesting and species specific conservation methods.

It should be noted that ownership is not undermined in any way if other groups use the territory, as long as it is with the permission of the chief, and the use and duration is specified. Use of territory does not constitute proof of ownership in the Tsimshian legal system. Even after considerable cultural disruption in the last century, permission to use the territories of others is still the norm, and certainly in recent generations, groups still tended to use their own territories. As with other Tsimshian, the institution of traplines has in some cases made for a mix of ownership/use during the period when trapping was economically viable.

Notwithstanding the complex adaptive changes in the economy, the data demonstrate two key understandings. Firstly, the lineages of the Gitk’a’ata have retained their knowledge of, and relationship to, the territories they own, and they continue to defend them; and secondly they have an unbroken and extensive economic and cultural relationship to their territories.

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Just as very little academic research has focused on the territorial ownership system of individual First Nations, also very little attention has been given to their previous economies. Certainly there has been discussion on the ‘seasonal round', but very little in depth research on the complexity of ecological knowedge, methods of conservation, and harvesting and preservation technology, or on the changing nature of trade over time. Also, in keeping with the academic approach to peoples and cultures, which seeks to generalize as much as possible, there is little inclination to go beyond the ‘ethnographic’ period, nor to examine regional differences.

The economies of each of the Tsimshian regions are quite distinct and each has changed over time. While the northern Tsimshian harvest eulachons in the spring at the mouth of the Nass River and then travel to the Skeena River for summer salmon fishing and fall hunting, the economy of the southern Tsimshian – the Gitk’a’ata, Gidestsu and Gitkxaala - has a quite different focus. As with all the tribes in all the regions, the Gitk’a’ata seasonal round has changed somewhat over the years, but the central importance of seafood is clear, for both consumption by the people themselves and for trade with neighbouring tribes. The richness of their territory in this regard seems unparalleled among other groups, except perhaps the Gitkxaala and Gidestsu. The range of seafood used, the harvesting, cooking and preserving techniques are all very sophisticated and the number of locations for seafood harvesting is also very extensive.

Equally important in the Gitk’a’ata economy is seaweed. While the northern Tsimshian also harvest seaweed extensively, primarily in the Dundas Islands, seaweed plays a central role in the trade of the Gitk’a’ata, as well as being a food staple for themselves. Again, the techniques of harvesting, drying, preparing and storing used by the Gitk’a’ata are all very sophisticated. In the spring, halibut is also harvested and dried, and traded extensively.

The interviews on which this report is in part based, and other relevant information, allow for an emerging understanding of the economy of the Gitk’a’ata, and its evolution over time. It can be posited, for example, that in more recent periods, there were areas utilized more in certain seasons than in others, and that these areas were not necessarily geographically discrete, nor self- evident. The activities during the spring based out of K’yel, for instance, were focused not only on the immediate marine areas but also those of the outer islands. Fall and winter activites tended to be more dispersed but could be said to have been concentrated in the Farrant/Pitt/Fin Island/Grenville Channel area. The summer activites seem to have taken place for the most part in the mainland areas along Douglas Channel. Further research might also show, however, that during certain time periods, the seasonal round differed from lineage to lineage, depending on the nature of their territories.

It is also possible to extrapolate from other data a different seasonal economy for earlier periods, given, for example, the numerous stonework fish traps distributed across the landscape in coves and inlets. If the known traps are relatively contemporaneous, they may indicate a more localized economy centred on ancient villages within each lineage territory. The neighbouring Gitkxaala state this to be the case in their early history.

In fact, several economies within the territories can be posited over time, beginning in very ancient times with each lineage inhabiting and using its territory year round. Over time, a more regional economy developed, with lineages of several clans in a region becoming more integrated and establishing a central seasonal gathering place, and ultimately a central (probably winter) regional village. Certainly, shell middens that can be interpreted as significant habitation sites have been identified in each of the three regions. Archaeological research at these sites would assist in clarifying this more ancient relationship of the Gitk’a’ata with their territories.

As the regional groupings of lineages became more integrated at the tribal level, a central seasonal gathering place was established for the entire tribe, which subsequently became a central village at Laxgalts’ap. Finally, in the modern period, people lived year round, first at Laxgalts’ap and now Kalgiiu, travelling seasonally to their territories, where they stay in seasonal camps or on their boats. Nevertheless, even as the economic focus and the technology of the Gitk’a’ata changed from one era to the next, the three main territorial/economic regions remained distinct but paramount, as they had the capacity to support not only seasonal but year round economies. This structure of this report therefore reflects the importance of these areas or regions.

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2. THE TSIMSHIAN

2.1 THE TSIMSHIAN AND THE OTHER NORTHWEST COAST NATIONS The Tsimshian are one of three closely related but distinct Northwest Coast nations, the others being the Nisga’ and the Gitksan. The Nisga’, Gitksan and Tsimshian share the underpinnings of many political, legal and social institutions, and their people speak mutually intelligible languages. Their combined territories encompass the Skeena River watershed, most of the Nass River watershed, the lower Douglas channel and its tributaries, and all the coastal areas from Aristabal Island to the islands and inlets at the mouth of the Nass.

The nations in the interior immediately to the north of the Nisga’, Gitksan and Tsimshian are the Tsetsaut and Tahltan, Athapaskan nations whose institutions are quite distinct and whose people speak entirely different languages. Their territories encompass most of the Stikine River watershed and a portion of the upper Nass River. The Tsetsaut have now been effectively absorbed into the Tahltan nation. To the north, on the coast is the Tlingit nation and to the west on Haida Gwaii, the Haida. While each of these nations is distinct in territory, language and social and political institutions, their people nevertheless each belong to one of four clan2 groups and have common ancestry with many of the house groups of the Nisga’, Gitksan and Tsimshian.

To the east of the Nisga’, Gitksan and Tsimshian are a number of Athapaskan nations beginning with the Wer’suwet’en and the Sekani. These nations also have a legal system that includes rights to territory. The nations immediately to the south of the Tsimshian are the Haisla and Heiltsuk. Their social and political organization is almost wholly different from that of their northern neighbours, as are their legal and land tenure systems. The people of these nations are not members of the four Northwest coast clans and share only very ancient common ancestry with some of the house groups of the nations to their north and west.

Before contact, the name each nation on the Northwest Coast used for itself was the real people and each nation had unique names for the nations around them. Some of these are still in use - for example the name of the Tlingit came from the Tsimshian name for them – Lingit, while the name of the Nisga’ appears to have evolved from a name in the Tlingit language. Now, each nation has only one name recognized throughout the Northwest Coast: Haida, Tlingit, Tahltan, Tsetsaut, Gitksan, Nisga', Tsimshian, Haisla, Heiltsuk, Haida, Sekani, and Wet'suwet'en.3

2.2 THE TSIMSHIAN The Tsimshian socio-political institutions, like those of the Nisga’ and Gitksan, include the house, tribe, region and nation, and, cross-cutting these, the lineage (a network of houses of common ancestry) and the clan. The house, or house group, is a matrilineal kin group and the fundamental political and land owning unit in Tsimshian society, and it bears the name of its chief or headman.4 Within tribe, region and nation, houses share economic and political concerns and a common geography. Their economic and political integration is expressed in their annual round of economic activities and in intermarriage and feasting. This integration is extensive at the tribal level and increasingly less so at the regional and national level, where the ties between tribes, and between regions, are formed primarily by the leading chiefs.

The combined territories of the houses in a tribe (village) compose a watershed or similarly discrete geographic area. Among the Tsimshian, these tribes (villages) are the Gitando, Gitzaxlaal, Gits'iis, Gitwilgyoots, Gitlaan, Giluts'aaw, Gitnadoiks, Ginaxangiik

2 The four clans are the Gispwudwada, Killerwhale (Fireweed among the Gitksan and Nisga’); the Laxgibuu, Wolf; the Ganhada, Raven (Frog/Raven among the Gitksan and Nisga’); and the Laxskiik, Eagle. There are only two of these four clans among the Tahltan (Raven and Wolf), and Haida (Raven and Eagle). 3 The spellings of these names vary. 4 The head of a house has either sm’oogit (chief) status or lik’agigyet (headman) status. As the status of leaders can change over time it is beyong the scope of this report to determine which term is the appropriate term in each case; therefore the word ‘chief’ is used in this report as a general term to mean simply a leader of a house.

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and the Gispaxlo'ots (the northern Tsimshian)5; the Gitkxaala, Gitk'a'ata and Gidestsu (the southern Tsimshian)6, and the Gits'ilaasu and Gitsmgeelwn (the interior Tsimshian).7

The combined territories of the tribes in a region tend to have more in common geographically than those in the neighbouring regions. Among the Tsimshian there are three regions: the northern Tsimshian whose territories span the lower Skeena River and the mainland coast from the mouth of the Skeena River to the mouth of the Nass River; the southern Tsimshian, whose territories include several islands south of the mouth of the Skeena and in Douglas Channel, as well as a number of watersheds along Douglas Channel; and the interior Tsimshian (also called the Canyon Tsimshian) whose territories include the Kalum River watershed and a section of the Skeena River watershed stretching east and west of the canyon at Kitselas.

Cross-cutting these socio-political and economic divisions of tribe, region and nation is another order of relationships between houses. Each house is part of a lineage, or network of houses, sharing a common ancient heritage. The houses in each network trace their origins through the matrilineal line to a common ancestral group. They also share a common history, which tells of the migrations of their ancestors and in some cases their dispersal across the Northwest Coast. Each of these lineages is part of a larger exogamous matrilineal group, the clan, within which everyone is considered kin. The four clans among northwest coast nations are the Killerwhale, the Eagle, the Wolf and the Raven.

2.3 THE TSIMSHIAN AND THEIR TERRITORIES The inalienable and exclusive title of each house to its territories and resources lies at the foundation of Tsimshian society. This title is entrenched in a complex legal system which validates the acquisition and inheritance of house territories and regulates rights of access and resource use.

Membership in a house is inherited through the matrilineage, with all members of the house inheriting rights of access and resource use in the house territories. Membership in a house is formalized in a feast, by the taking of a name. With a name one acquires rights to use specific areas in the house territories; these are allocated by the chief and announced by him in the feast. The chief manages or governs all aspects of the territory and is responsible for ensuring both the well-being of the house and the health of the territory.

Tsimshian law requires that those who speak to the ownership of territory be the chiefs responsible for those territories or be authorized by those chiefs to speak on their behalf. The chiefs today are matrilineal descendants of the generations of chiefs before them who, over many generations, acquired, managed, defended and passed on intact the territories of their houses.

The acquisition of Tsimshian territory is described in adawx, or formal oral histories. The adawx describe the ancient migrations of the house, its acquisition and defence of its territory and major events in the life of the house such as natural disasters, epidemics and war, as well as the arrival of new peoples and the events surrounding the establishment of trade alliances and major shifts in power. The crests, depicted on housefronts, crest poles and ceremonial regalia also speak to and depict events in the history of the house as described in the adawx.

Every generation of Tsimshian chiefs is responsible for ensuring the full transmission to the next generation of the adawx and associated prerogatives of their houses through a series of feasts, at which these are made public and validated by other chiefs. The formal narration of a house’s adawx in a feast is followed by the acknowledgment by the chiefs of the guest houses who confirm the veracity of the history and the house’s title to its territory. The very existence in the present of Tsimshian adawx proves the Tsimshian have declared their adawx, their territories and their rights in the feast over countless generations, and that they have been acknowledged by the other houses in their communities and in neighbouring nations.

5 Allied Tsimshian Tribes of Laxkwalaams and Metlakatla 6 Kitkatla, Hartley Bay, Kitasoo 7 Kitselas, Kitsumkalum 10

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For Northwest Coast nations, the process of claiming territory, dating back to the earliest post-glacial era, is described as “walking the land” or “surveying” it and includes naming mountains, rivers, lakes and other areas. These names are highly descriptive and reflect a detailed knowledge of the landscape. Once the land was surveyed, the house hosted a feast and announced the group’s claim to the territory and its names. The guests of the host, the chiefs of the other houses, acknowledged the claim to the territory, thereby validating the house’s ownership of the territory and completing the process of establishing land tenure.

Knowledge of the names of geographical features within the territories and of their historical origins is therefore an element in the proof of ownership within the indigenous legal system. The Tsimshian have described their territory many times, naming its places and identifying its resources to anthropologists, government agents, judges and to royal commissions on aboriginal matters. As well, they developed their own documentary record around a variety of petitions, maps and claims for presentation to government.

Once acquired, rights to territory are inalienable unless the house is unable to produce sufficient wealth to perform its ceremonial responsibilities, or is required to relinquish part of its territory as compensation. If a house dies out, another house that is considered "close" by virtue of sharing a common ancient heritage and common clan and village membership, takes full responsibility for the names, history, and territory of the house. If this house eventually becomes too large, it will divide in two again and re-establish the other house for which it took responsibility. If a house is depopulated to the extent that its members can no longer afford to "bury" their dead, then a related house will do so, and, in return, take over the control and use of part of the house's territory. At such time as the house is repopulated and has repaid the other house in a feast the territory is returned.

There are only two other ways in which territory can be legally transferred to another house. The first is through the system of compensation in which one house relinquishes wealth, names, crests, or territory, to repay a crime committed against a member of another house. Compensation for the accidental death of an individual might involve a gift of material wealth; for the murder of an important chief, it might involve the transfer of territory for the lifetime of the immediate family of the deceased. As with all other legal transactions within Tsimshian society, these transfers of territory are formally presented and acknowledged in the feast. Thereafter they form part of the adawx of the houses involved.

The second is the peace process after a period of war. Since the Tsimshian legal system defines as illegal the invasion of another nation’s territory, war with foreign peoples has been a result of an invasion into Tsimshian territory. In the case of an invasion, where territory is taken over by invaders,8 those owning the territory may look to neighbouring tribes (villages) to assist in their defence. Once the invaders are routed, or absorbed into Tsimshian society, those assisting in the defeat of the invaders may receive compensation for their assistance and this may take the form of access to territory. If the group whose territory is invaded is decimated, those defeating the invaders may take the territory of the now extinct group. In some cases when the invaders are from an adjacent nation and are decimated, their territory becomes the spoils of war. These situations are each unique and very complex and they lie behind the greatest number of competing claims or so-called “overlaps”.

Is should be noted that an overall analysis of Tsimshian territories shows that they for the most part belong to the earliest lineages to arrive in the area. House groups from later migrations are sometimes added to Tsimshian tribes as distinct house groups of the same clan, but with their histories and rights remaining distinct. Alternatively, house groups from a clan that is not already established in the area can obtain territory through compensation. Otherwise, they simply obtain access to territory through marriage and do not own territory at all. An analysis of the territories as a whole therefore strengthens the Tsimshian legal tenet that, once acquired, territories, with few exceptions, remain in the hands of the original house group.

2.4 THE ADAWX, NORTHWEST COAST NATIONS AND THE TSIMSHIAN There are significant differences between the primary sources in which various ethnographers have recorded adawx and other information from Northwest Coast First Nations. Critical to the usefulness of a source in regard to research on the subject of

8 As distinguished from raiding and other forms of warfare. 11

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territory is first and foremost whether the right questions were asked, and whether as mentioned above the researcher actually acknowledged the relevance of territoriality to his or her studies. In the many pages of Franz Boas’ work, there is almost no reference to territory and very little in Viola Garfield’s research. Fortunately for future generations, Marius Barbeau’s research approach, unlike that of Boas and Garfield, differed in three ways: he himself spent many weeks in the field over several years; he was informed about the social and political organization of the nations in question before he arrived; and he carefully trained, and probably listened extensively to, William Beynon. Barbeau was very fortunate to have the assistance of Beynon, who understood the Tsimshian both subjectively and objectively, and more importantly developed an intellectual passion, which led to him devoting the greater part of his adult life to recording critical information in the precise words of the chiefs and matriarchs.

Also key to the usefulness of a source is the identification of the person speaking to the researcher. Since no chief or matriarch would speak to this information unless it belonged to his or her house group, Barbeau and Beynon sought out the appropriate house group leaders and then carefully noted their Tsimshian name, house group, and tribe, and, if relevant, the same information concerning the person who had given them permission to speak. The resulting material is thus authoritative as defined by the Tsimshian legal system. From a researcher’s perspective, this key information is critical to any attempt at understanding the Tsimshian and their history. Where there is more than one ‘version’ of the same events or state of affairs, it is a result of the fact that more than one house group has participated in the historical events in question.

As a result of this approach, in the course of decades of research (between 1915 and 1950), Beynon and Barbeau recorded the formal and public information that defines each house group of the Tsimshian, Nisga’, and Gitksan. In addition to the adawx, which are the historical records of each house group, they also recorded the origins, crests, personal names and key territorial information of each house group in these nations. This additional information is key to understanding the adawx, the social and political organization of the Tsimshian and their territorial system. The territorial information is keyed to maps with hand-written notations. It is important to remember that without a grasp of the Tsimshian language and a consistent system of orthography, none of this information could have been recorded, an achievement in itself. Years later this information was meticulously re- organized by UBC professor Wilson Duff.

All the information in this report, unless otherwise indicated, is from the Barbeau Beynon Fieldnotes, either from their originals or from copies by Wilson Duff. The following are the chiefs and matriarchs who shared with Barbeau and Beynon their knowledge used in this report: Herbert Wallace, Nisyaganaat, Gitsiis, Ganeda (1915 and 1926); Heber Clifton, ‘Wahmodeml, Gitk’a’ata, Gispwudwada (1939); Edmund Patelas, Gitk’a’ata; Sam Lewis, Gitkxaala; George McCauley, Gitkxaala; Joseph Bradley; Matthew Johnson; Lucy Clifton, Gitk’a’ata; and Mrs. George Robinson, Gitk’a’ata (1953); Robert Stewart, Kincolith.

2.5 ADAWX IN THIS CONTEXT Adawx, loosely translated as “true tellings”, are an oral record of the origins and subsequent history of a lineage and include accounts of migrations, the claiming and loss of territory, the founding of settlements and alliances, wars, and natural disasters. They have been passed down for many generations from chief to nephew in the form of oral texts that were memorized verbatim as a complete sequence, ultimately to be told and witnessed at feasts over a period of many hours. At the feast they became known in the context of the adawx of all the lineages in the village, the region, the nation and sometimes other nations. Each lineage knew its history therefore not only as a unique and detailed record but also as part of the greater historical record of their people.

Adawx were recorded in writing beginning in the late 1800s by Henry Tate9 but especially between 1916 and the 1950s in the work of Marius Barbeau and William Beynon. They were recorded as brief summaries of many events spanning centuries, long and detailed accounts of a single event, or a mix of both but never in their complete form. As a result anyone seeking to approach this record as a scholar needs to recreate as closely as possible their original form. It is also of the utmost importance to examine each adawx record in the context of other adawx and ideally in the context of the full extant body of adawx, including

9 They were later published by Franz Boas. 12

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the oral records of other nations. This is what I have tried to do over the last almost forty years, and especially since hundreds of texts became available in microfilm in the mid 1980s.

How then does one respectfully discuss this immensely important historical record in a modern context? In other writings I have tried to allow the adawx to speak for themselves in their original sequence by composing a narrative of extensive excerpts10. This report could not be written in that format but any reading of it should presume it is based in a detailed analysis of many adawx and a context of many more, and out of this analysis an overall chronology that is embedded in the adawx themselves.

There are other contexts that inform any understanding of individual adawx, such as the context of Northwest Coast peoples’ relationship to what is now called the supernatural or spirit world, and integrated with this the geography of their land. Firstly, a comprehensive knowledge of indigenous geographical concepts is important. Secondly, for those raised in western societies, it is important not to be distracted by cultural elements, such as the supernatural, that can only be imagined with considerable difficulty. For example, whether the spirits caused a natural disaster or not, the natural disaster still occurred and the adawx are an invaluable record of that event. Alternatively, one can embrace the understanding, particularly relevant in this case, that if people disrespect the world upon which they depend for life, it will inevitably end in natural disaster.

And finally, while the chronology of events is inherent in the adawx, as they were learned and told in sequence, efforts to date key events in the sequence, especially those experienced and recorded by several lineages, have been made over the last 20 or so years using archaeological, geological and climatological research. The dates given here are a result of that research.11

10Marsden 2001, for example 11Archer 1992, Martindale and Marsden 2003, Marsden 2001, unpublished reports and papers for Delgamuukw vs A.G., unpublished reports on sea level dating by Duncan McLaren (UVic), research on-going for SHRCC Research Project: The Development of a Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer Polity: The Archaeology and History of the Tsimshian Village Complex at Prince Rupert Harbour, with David Archer, Andrew Martindale, Aubrey Cannon, Kenneth Ames, and research on-going forTsimshian Landscapes: Archaeological, Paleo-Environmental and Indigenous Histories in the Dundas Islands, with David Archer, Andrew Martindale, Duncan McLaren, editors and contributors, UBC Press

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3. THE FOUNDING OF GITK’A’ATA: THE EARLY PEOPLES

3.1 INTRODUCTION The northern Northwest Coast was first peopled as the ice of the last glacial period receded. Even in this early time one can see the defining elements of the early peoples. The people of the Raven, who came into this area from the north but by different routes, identified themselves simply as the Raven people, and their lineages were distinguished by their unique histories. Others first and foremost defined themselves as descendants of a supernatural ancestor and their clan identity evolved from this. This first peopling of the region brought the founding lineages of the Gitk’a’ata.

3.2 THE EARLY WOLF CLAN Among the first to arrive on the Northwest Coast were the people of Ts’oode, a group with no clan affiliation, who moved up the coast from the south. They ultimately spread throughout the region, becoming lineages and house groups of the Wolf clan. From this people came the Wolf clan lineage that first claimed and occupied Gitk’a’ata lands and became known as the houses of Hagilaxha, Ts’abux and Kawkaaw. Heber Clifton referred to the ancient origin of these houses when he stated ``The Laxgibuu were of local origin at 7 mile creek between Hartley Bay and Lowe Inlet.”12

The supernatural ancestry of this lineage is recounted in “the myth of Haluus and Ts’oode.”13 From the beginning among the Tsimshian, this lineage was centred at Gadu in Metlakatla Pass, and at the mouth of the Skeena River, where the territory of the Gitzaxlaal and the Gitsiis meet, at the mouth of the Ecstall River. It was here that Ts’oode appearied to a chief’s daughter, first as a great bird and then as a man, whom she subsequently married. Their offspring helped found villages among the Tsimshian, on the Nass and as far north as the upper Skeena River. In addition to the wealth he brought to this lineage, Ts’oode opened the route to the eulachon fishery at the mouth of the Nass River, and although his powers were unable to ensure native copper could be found in their territory, he assisted his descendants in finding a source of copper at the headwaters of the Skeena River and helped them develop the technique of smelting it.

Herbert Wallace (Nisyaganaat, Gitsiis, Ganhada),14 referred to the ‘myth of Ts’ooda and Haluus’ as belonging to the Gitsiis house of Nlade (part of the Asagalyeen goup) and the Gitzaxlaal house of Niskya. Sam Lewis and George McCauley placed the origins of the Wolf clan house of Labiksk in Kitkatla at Gadu, where they were “with the house of Asagalyeen and they use the same myths and crests”. They also attribute the same origins to the houses of Hagilaxha, Ts’abux and Kawkaaw, when they stated that “another branch of this house afterwards went further south and went among the Gitk’a’ata and joined that tribe.”15

Some of the people of Ts’oode at Gadu travelled as far as Gitangasx, an ancient settlement on the northern reaches of the Skeena River.16 Their descendants later moved from there to Kisgagas, Galdo’ and Anlagasemdex, where they founded a number of houses, one of which was the house of Ts’abux. Edmund Patelas helped keep alive the history of this people when he told the adawx of Ts’oode in the 1950s.17 He may have heard it from one of the last chiefs of the Wolf clan at Gitk’a’ata before their houses became extinct.

3.3 THE EARLY RAVEN CLAN

12 Duff, n.d. Gitk’a’ata 13 Barbeau, 1950, vol.1; Boas, 1916 14 Duff, n.d., Gitsiis Origins, Gitzaxlaal Origins 15 Duff, n.d. Gitkxaala Origins 16 Marsden, 1987 17 Barbeau, 1950, vol. 1 14

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Like the early Wolf clan lineages, the most ancient home of the early Raven clan among the Tsimshian was at Gadu and the mouth of the Ecstall River, where the territory of the Gitsiis and Gitzaxlaal meet. From here they spread throughout the northwest and up into what is now Alaska. Unlike the lineage of Ts’oode, the Raven clan people there did not trace their origins to a single ancestor, but their ancestors play a role in a unique series of ancient events involving lineages of the Gispwudwada, Wolf, and Raven clans. The adawx relating these events is most often referred to as that of Gunaxnismgyet, but in it the most important ancestor for the Raven clan is Gunaxnismgyet’s son, Yagagwinusk, who inherited the supernatural powers he needed to tame the spanaxnox of the coastal waters. Spanaxnox18 are spirits that inhabit and control powerful natural elements dangerous to humans. When the land is first settled, an alliance is formed between the spirit and the people, allowing only the owners of the territory to pass safely. In other words, their spirit ancestor helped them learn to navigate the coastal waters, a skill that required an intimate knowledge of the waters, and specific navigation skills.

Out of this ancient Raven lineage evolved others whose adawx sometimes overshadowed these earlier histories. This is the case with the great warrior Ayagansk, who helped keep the lineage strong but also alienated many of the other early peoples, including his Raven clan relatives. His exploits included acquiring a magical bow embedded with abalone shell. This bow became a crest among Raven clan houses of this lineage as far inland as the Gitanyaw of the Gitksan, where it appears on the totem pole of one of the founding houses there, the house of Gunuu. The descendants of Ayagansk also helped found the Gitkxaala, Gitk’a’ata, Gitwilgyoots and Ginaxangiik tribes. The house of ‘Wiitis and ‘Wiinemoolk was established at Gitk’a’ata by this early Raven clan lineage.

Another Raven clan lineage that helped found Gitk’a’ata originated further inland and their adawx tells of a journey over many lakes before they settled near Gits’ilaasu. They later spread downriver to found the house of Lu’um among the Gitsiis, Niskiwa among the Gitzaxlaal, Niskiwa and Ts’agmgishaaytks at Gidestsu, and Nisyagas at Gitk’a’ata.

In this early period, Gitzaxlaal (at Gadu and the mouth of the Ecstall) and the Gitk’a’ata had close ties given the common origins of their early Wolf and Raven houses. The Gitzaxlaal village at the mouth of the Ecstall River was at one end of an inland route up the Ecstall River, overland to the head of the Quaal River and downriver to the original village of the Gitk’a’ata. The name Wiinemoolk means ‘greatly annoyed’ and refers to his annoyance with the Gidestsu with whom he was at war, but Nisyagas had ties to the Gidestsu and the Gitk’a’ata later became closely affiliated with this tribe.

At one time `Wiinemoolk was the leading chief of Gitka’ata. Given this fact and the early presence of the Raven clan at Gitk’a’ata, the relatively small amount of territory they now claim suggests they ceded some of their territory to later arrivals.

3.4 THE EARLY GISPWUDWADA CLAN The adawx of Gaw’a describes the origins of the earliest Gispwudwada to arrive at Gitk’a’ata. They were the descendants of the son of the chief of the heavens and Gaw’a (Sgawoo among the Gitksan), one of the only two survivors of a war with a Raven clan lineage at the headwaters of the Nass and Skeena Rivers. The chief of the heavens sent his son to marry Gaw’a and then gave their children supernatural powers and weapons. One of these weapons was called ts’a’ux, a bucket-like object that when raised and tilted caused the village of their enemies to turn over and disappear.19 After the Sky Children used their supernatural powers, and finally the ts’a’ux, to defeat the Raven clan people and destroy their village, they travelled throughout the Northwest Coast, warring and establishing their lineage among the Gitksan, Nisga’, Tsimshian and Tlingit. They eventually founded Temlaxam, the famous Gitksan city at the confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley rivers, a settlement that was to play a prominent role in subsequent eras.

18 Marsden, 2002 19 The description in the adawx of this event suggests an earthquake. 15

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The house of ‘Wahmoodeml was established at Gitk’a’ata from this lineage: “they arrived after the Wolves were already established and made their first village at Gil Island.”20 Edmund Patelas explained their origins: “the original Gitk’a’ata came from the Nass and Skeena headwaters and were the offspring of the children of Gaw’a. When they left, one group led by ‘Wahmoodemlk came down until he reached K’moode (Lowe Inlet). The group also consisted of a few Ganedas of which his wife was one. Km’oode was already occupied by Laxgibuu, so they went farther south and established a village called Ts’ats’aat on Gil Island . . . Looking for a better place to live, ‘Wahmoodemlk moved to Hartley Bay, K’algiiu (along the beach), and then to Old Town [Laxgalts’ap]. Here he planted his ceremonial cane, named the place Gitk’a’ata.”21

Edmund Patelas summarized the founding of Gitk’a’ata in this early period, when he said: “When the Gitk’a’ata first came from the Nass, they consisted of two clans: the Gispwudwada under ‘Wahmoodeml and a few Ganhadas. They found the Laxgibuu already here. Later the Tsilaxhons [Djilaqons] group of Laxskiik, of Haida origin arrived.”22

3.5 THE EARLY EAGLE CLAN The last early people to establish themselves at Gitk’a’ata were a Haida Eagle clan lineage. All the Haida Eagle clan groups (except for one northern lineage) are descended from the ancestress Djilaqons. As the Haida told Swanton “Djilaqons, a contemporary of Foam Woman, the ancestress of the Ravens, had a daughter, Swiftly Sliding Woman, who came to live under the Ninstints mountain of that name and was known as Greatest Mountain. She gave birth to Property Making a Noise, who Gave Birth to Town of Djigua People, who were on the northern shore of Cumshewa Inlet.”23

It was the sons of the chief of the Djigua people who showed disrespect towards a frog when they threw it in their camp fire and laughed when it exploded. The account of these events takes various forms among the Haida and the Tsimshian but they consistently end in the destruction of the young men’s people. Some attribute this retribution to Volcano Woman, the mother of the frog people, but the Haida attribute the ensuing events to Djilaqons and describe them as fire on both the land and sea, and cinders and burning coals falling from the sky. Geological research in Cumshewa Inlet might reveal and date this specific event but it is reasonable to assume that this took place in the same period as other post-glacial changes to the earth’s surface.

A young woman, the sole survivor, was helped by Djilaqons to leave the village and her daughters became the ancestors of several lineages among the southern Haida. She became known as Property Woman Making a Noise and eventually made her way to the mainland where her descendants founded several houses among the southern Tsimshian. The house of Tkwulaxha in Gidestsu “is of Haida origin – he settled on Aristazabal Island (its name K’a’antis is Haida) and became part of Gidestsu Eagle group.”24

The House of Txatkwatk, and Gamgagol of Gitk’a’ata “Of Haida origin, family of Gitaiwaas of Ninstints. They are also referred to as the Ts’ilaxhons group of Laxskiik, of Haida origin.”25 The house of Huhuulk is said to have originated on Fin Island, possibly indicating a more ancient origin, or he may have been from the same Haida lineage. Edmund Patelas related the adawx of Djilaqons as an account of the “Origin of the Laxskiik in the Gitk’a’ata”. These Haida people also established the first Eagle clan houses at Gitkxaala, and an early lineage at Gitamaat.26

The Eagle territories claimed in Kitkatla, Gitk’a’ata and Kitasoo are contiguous and make up a large area on the islands at the mouth of Douglas Channel.

20 Duff, n.d. Gitk’a’ata 21 Duff, n.d. Gitk’a’ata 22 Duff, n.d. Gitk’a’ata 23 Swanton, 1905 24 Duff, n.d. Gitk’a’ata 25 A woman’s name in the house of Txatkwatk, Semiguul, refers to the remains of a volcanic fire on Haida Gwaii, Duff Files, n.d. Gitk’a’ata 26 Duff Files, n.d. Gitk’a’ata 16

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4. GITK’A’ATA AND THE PEOPLES FROM THE MIGRATION FROM TEMLAXAM

4.1 THE GISPWUDWADA FROM TEMLAXAM Temlaxam was founded as we have seen by the descendants of Gaw’a (Sgawoo) who were originally joined there by Raven clan peoples and later by lineages of the Wolf clan. The area was rich in salmon, mountain goat and other foods, and supported a large number of people. Over time it became an extensive settlement area at the confluence of the Bulkley and Skeena rivers, and at the height of its prosperity is said to have been several miles long.

The people there began to take their prosperity for granted and to show disrespect for the animals that sustained them. Their adawx tells of their abuse of the mountain goats and their failure to respect other species, including salmon. The consequences were natural disasters, an expression of displeasure on the part of the spirit world. First a side of Stikyooden mountain collapsed, followed by a massive landslide, and then a change in the climate made fish and game scarce. Such a large population could no longer be sustained in what had been for many centuries a land of plenty and the people dispersed.

While lineages of all three clans at Temlaxam tell of their relocation to new villages, it is the adawx of the Gispwudwada (Gitksan: Giskaast, Fireweed) that describe in detail their establishment among many already well-populated villages among the Tsimshian, Nisga’a and Gitksan. Quite frequently it is said: “we have relatives who have gone before us when Gaw’a’s children retaliated,”27 showing that they knew they could not simply join other villages and territories without permission.

Heber Clifton described the dispersal from Temlaxam and the travels of the group from which the Gitk’a’ata house of Nt’aawiiwalp originated.

Tsibasaa and his brothers – in this household they were very numerous – said, “We must not stay here. Let us go down the river to some other locality, and we may have a chance to escape the anger of the Chief of the Skies.” Not all of Tsibasaa’s brothers and families followed. Some elected to remain where they were. Others chose to go up the river. So this was the occasion of their separation at Temlaxam.

Ts’ibasaa, who was accompanied by his brothers ‘Wiiseeks, Nisweexs, Gunaxnutk, and many of his nephews, nieces and headmen went down the river. They first stopped at Kitselas. Here several of his nephews stayed behind. These were T’mnuunax and NIstaxhook, while the others kept on travelling down the river. They went on until they reached the mouth of the Skeena. Here some more of the brothers separated. Agwilaxha went northwards with his family until they came upon the Gispaxlo’ots. And Gyeluk went with his group to the Gitando. They were the original chiefs of these two tribes before the Laxskiik (Eagles) [the Gwinhuut] came.

Ts’ibasaa and his brothers travelled south until they came upon what is now the Gitkxaala section, each with a small household. Then Ts’ibasaa, seeing that it was a land of plenty, established himself. It was at Kts’m’nlagan (Inside of Crevice of Mountain (Curtis Inlet) that he discovered a country with plenty of salmon, animals, sea animals, sea foods, and mountain berries. This country was subdivided among the others. Laxklaan (On Stern of Canoe), Gitkxaala village, was not then inhabited, and only became so in the winter . . . Each headman now set out and formed a village and hunting ground of their own. One of the lesser chiefs was ‘Nta’wiiwalp (Vessel for Great House, an elder nephew of Ts’ibasaa, who had a large group of his own. Now that they were in a new country, they set off to find a territory of their own. Now they came upon a Laxgibuu (Wolves) at Gitk’a’ata at the mouth of the river of the same name. Here they allied themselves with these people. Since this house of ‘Nta’wiiwalp became the leading house, many other headmen went farther south and to adjoining islands. This is how Ts’ibasaa and his group came down from Temlaxam.28

27 Barbeau and Beynon, n.d.(c) #40 28 Barbeau and Beynon, n.d.(c) #40 17

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The arrival of the Gispwudwada from Temlaxam appears in some villages to have shifted the balance of power and resulted in the loss of some territories to the newcomers.29 While the changes were gradual they were significant. In the end villages throughout the region and over greater distances had closer ties as the Gispwudwada fostered their network of houses and shifted the locus of power somewhat from villages and tribes to broad reaching lineage networks.

29 Through compensation, or their ability to generate wealth and thereby pay for the funeral expenses of other houses 18

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5. INVASION FROM THE NORTH

5.1 INTRODUCTION While the Gispwuwada from Temlaxam were aggressive in their integration into new villages, the dispersal into Tsimshian territory could not be characterized as an invasion, as they allied themselves with founding or early lineages in each area. This cannot be said of the events that took place many centuries later when foreign peoples from the north pushed into Tsimshian territory. The invaders originated among the Tlingit but also among the Tahltan and their Athapaskan neighbours up the Stikine River who migrated through Tlingit territory. The first to penetrate Tsimshian territory were lineages of the Tlingit Raven clan, followed by the Eagle clan and finally inland and coastal lineages of the Wolf clan. The impact of the Raven clan invasion was mostly felt among the northern Tsimshian but the Eagle clan lineages spread throughout the region, and the Wolf clan invasion provoked warfare. Extensive archaeological research over the last decade has consistently pointed to a date of approximately 1500 BP for these events.30

5.2 THE GWINHUUT EAGLES Joseph Bradley and Matthew Johnson related how some of the Eagles were integrated into a number of Tsimshian villages.

When this lineage of chiefs first came among the Tsimshian, Nisga’a and Kitselas tribes, they were known as the Eagle Refugees ) Gwinhootm Laxskiik [Gwinhuut]. They had many adventures before they came to the Tsimshian people, where they are now located. Many years ago there were two clans of people who were the Wolf clan and the Eagle clan and they lived at a village called Laxse’el [SE Alaska now] . . . [migration history] . . . [they separated] the two leaders who went up the Nass were Txalaxat and Mineskxw . . . the Eagle clan lineage was established among the Tsimshian and Niswamak was their leader and he went into the Gispaxlo’ots tribe and became a chief of this tribe and his brother Sgagweet went to the Gitando and another brother, whose name was Senaxeet, went on to the Gitamaat. This was before the origin of the name Ligeex whose prowess in war and fighting raised him above all the other chiefs . . . These Refugee chiefs knew how to gather food and had much wealth and became a very strong lineage.31

5.3 THE GITXHON EAGLES Another more detailed account of how Senaxeet came to Gitamaat and then to Gitk’a’ata was told to William Beynon by Lucy Clifton and Mrs. George Robinson in 1953.

It is often said that we Laxskiik are of Haida origin and that is where we came from. But that is not so. We are not of the same Gwinhuut people as are the Laxskiik of the Gitando and the Gispaxlo’ots tribes of the Tsimshian. But we came from the same place and were related to one another. Yet we are not of the same migration, we the Gitxhon Laxskiik. We are connected with Nishaayweexs and Gitxhon of Gitsmgeelwn. And here is one of our main stories as to our Haida connections.32

Lucy Clifton went on to describe how a branch of the Gwinhuut Eagles tried to establish itself at Gitsmgeelwn but was driven away by the Gispwudwada clan already there. They returned to the mouth of the Nass, which they had passed by during their travels from the north, and from there a small group went to Massett among the northern Haida. They returned after some years

30 Archer 1992, Martindale and Marsden 2003, Marsden 2001, research on-going for SHRCC Research Project: The Development of a Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer Polity: The Archaeology and History of the Tsimshian Village Complex at Prince Rupert Harbour, with David Archer, Andrew Martindale, Aubrey Cannon, Kenneth Ames, and research on-going forTsimshian Landscapes: Archaeological, Paleo-Environmental and Indigenous Histories in the Dundas Islands, with David Archer, Andrew Martindale, Duncan McLaren, editors and contributors, UBC Press 31 Beynon, n.d. no. 11 32 Barbeau and Beynon, n.d.(a) 19

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with wealth and prestige as the lineage of Gitxhon, which eventually became established at the mouth of the Nass, Gitamaat, and Kitselas, in each case joining Eagles that were already established there.

At the end of the narrative, William Beynon remarked that Lucy Clifton and Mrs. George Robinson were members of the house of Senaxeet and had come to Gitk’a’ata through marriage to the House of Gigyooksmwalp (Gispwudwada) in Gitk’a’ata, where they had recently established this house among the Gitk’a’ata, namely at the turn of the 19th century.

There are a number of accounts of how the Gitxhon lineage came to intermarry with the Haida. Henry Edenshaw told how the Stastas lineage came to be among the northern Haida. They describe the migration of the Gwinhuut Eagle and Wolf clan peoples into their territory after they reached or had settled at the mouth of the Nass River.

Mr. Henry Edenshaw says that his father, who was chief of the Stastas assigned two origins to his family. A small part of them, including the chief, came down the Stikine, whence was derived the [Tlingit] name Edansa (glacier) but the majority came from the Nass. There are certain Tsimshian names among them today – such as Hai’as, the name of the chief of Those Born at Hlielan and “Wiiha (great wind) . . . Their chiefs were town chiefs of Kiusta, opposite North island; but the family lands were mainly about Rose Spit, which they must have acquired after they had been vacated by their previous Raven owners and in Naden Harbour. Some of the Stastas proper went to Alaska in the great migration, and they were also represented there by a large branch called Ya’das.33

This is the lineage that became known as the Gitxhon Laxskiik, some of whom returned to the Tsimshian and the Nisga’.

5.4 THE GWINHUUT WOLVES The last wave of the invasion was by a Wolf clan people from among the Tlingit, many of whom originated on the upper Stikine River. They established themselves in coastal inlets, such as Work Channel and other inlets at the mouth of the Nass River, where they were out of sight and best able to defend themselves. From there they raided the northern Tsimshian in their winter villages on the coast. The Tsimshian eventually abandoned these villages and established themselves along the lower Skeena River to better protect them from attack. With the Skeena well-guarded, some of the invaders moved south to Lowe Inlet. The houses already established there were also of the Wolf clan. While it is not clear whether the original Wolf clan lineage there was driven away or whether the two groups amalgamated, there followed a period of raids and counter-raids with the villages in the region.

James Lewis and Heber Clifton described the situation at the time.

And all the tribes that would go to Gitamaat were always watched by all the Wolf clan and now there were many Wutsdaa34, Gitlo’op and Gitamaat and Gitka’ata who were killed by the Wolf clan.

Well all these tribes were worn out at what the Wolf clan had done to them and they were really afraid to go anywhere close to the Wolf clan village so that then Nta’wiiwalp, chief of the Gitk’a’ata, called for help; he invited all the chiefs of the Wutsdaa, Gitlo’op and Gitamaat and they discussed the thing that they will do to the Wolf clan, who were now about to destroy them. And when all the chiefs came together then all the chiefs agreed as one that they would clean off all the Wolf clan and that they would altogether as one make war upon the Wolf clan village [then where Gitk’a’ata is now] . . . When it was spring . . . [they] gathered together and the Wolf clan never knew of them gathering together to make an attack on the Wolf clan. And the Wolf clan were about to set out to visit where others of the Wolf clan lived at Lowe Inlet and it was then that those that were to raid together, attacked, these four tribes, and because it was so unexpected, the Wolf clan now seemed very weak, when they were attacked, so they escaped in flight and left their village. So it was then that the Gitk’a’ata moved down and lived where the Wolf clan had lived and here they live to this day. Well it was then that the power of the Wolf clan went down and all the Wolf clan escaped to Lowe Inlet and they possessed this river. And it was then that all the

33 Swanton, 1905 34 Bella Bella 20

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tribes tried to chase away all of the Wolf clan, because they were very much warlike people and besides they were a strange tongue; they were Tlingits and this was really why all the tribes were after them…. 35

Later, the Gik’a’ata, who thought that their original attacks on the Tlingit in their territory had significantly reduced their enemy’s numbers, were surprised to find that there were still many of them at Lowe Inlet, not realizing that it was another group led by Tok, fleeing from the ongoing conflict at the mouth of the Nass, had joined them.

As Robert Stewart described, “the group travelled on down the coast and settled for a time at what is now Lowe Inlet. Here they tried to control the area against invaders by stringing cedar bark rope across the narrow part of Grenville Channel, so that no strange canoes could get by.”36

Heber Clifton described the Gitk’a’ata’s response:

With the Gitamaat and Gitlo’op, they [the Gitk’a’ata] prepared to attack again. They were warned about a rope stretched across the entrance to Lowe Inlet . . . (upon the rope ends are fastened deer hoofs and puffin bills and this makes a noise when the canoes come in contact with the rope giving an alarm to the Wolf clan . . .

They all attacked together and took the Wolf clan without a struggle. Many of the Wolf clan escaped up to the hills and the raiders captured many women and children and killed many. Then the raiders broke up into pieces all of the canoes of the Wolf clan and razed all of the houses by fire and then they left.37

As with the Raven, Wolf and Eagle groups among the other tribes, the Gitk’a’ata assimilated many of the defeated invaders. As Heber Clifton stated, “Now some of the captives went to Gitamaat and some others had gone to Gitk’a’ata and lived there and they really increased in number here. Well the Gitk’a’ata now were those that took the Wolf clan river of Lowe Inlet.”38

Over time, after this very difficult period in northern northwest coast history, village groups, regional groups and nations became more integrated and more clearly defined and trade became an integral part of the region’s economies.

35 Beynon n.d. no. 228 36 Beynon and Barbeau, n.d.(d) no. 41 37 Beynon n.d. no. 228 38 Beynon n.d. no. 228 21

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6. RECENT HISTORY

6.1 RAIDING BETWEEN NATIONS From 1600 to 1800 was the height of what climatologists call the Little Ice Age. During this period, relations between neighbours were strained, and there were raids on Tsimshian territory from neighbouring nations, especially the Haida. The Haida were looking for food and slaves and reached as far as the upper Skeena and well into Douglas Channel. The Tsimshian and the Gitksan together fought back and attacked the Haida on their own soil. They re-established clear control over access to the mouth of the Skeena River and to the eulachon grounds on the Nass River. The practice of raiding appears to have escalated at this point and some of the Tsimshian began raiding to the north and south. The Tlingit and the Bella Bella among others also raided Tsimshian territory.

In Laxgalts’ap, the Gitk’a’ata established a fortified site, K’alahahaytk, where they took refuge when attacked. It was a low island a mile up the Quaal River from the head of Kitkiata Inlet. In 1938, Phillip Drucker39 was told that it (Qalahaituk) “was used regularly as a fishing station and as a refuge in time of war (being protected by the numerous bars too shoal after half tide for a war canoe).” The ten houses that once stood there were all collapsed by 1938. The site itself was said to have been used up until 1862 when the Gitk’a’ata left for Metlakatla. Drucker concluded from the chips found in a pocket of wood-working debris that the house he examined was made with iron tools placing its construction no earlier than the late 1700s. However, the archaeological work was not sufficiently extensive to conclude the same dates for the other houses or to preclude earlier construction elsewhere on the site.

6.2 THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEANS, THE FUR TRADE AND MISSIONARIES The maritime fur trade fostered a period of increased wealth and a strong economy, but the efforts by the HBC to establish a monopoly during the land based fur trade soon reduced the benefits of the arrival of Europeans. The well-known early colonial period of cultural disruption and disease followed, creating fallow ground for missionaries. The history of the Gitk’a’ata is unique in this period. It was the philosophy of the missionaries of the time to create model communities with the converts well away from the other villagers (Glen Vowell, Cedarvale, Metlakatla) and shortly after the smallpox epidemic in 1787 the people of Hartley Bay moved to Metlakatla to join the mission there. When Duncan fell out with the Church of England and moved to Alaska, most of the Gitk’a’ata returned to their village at Laxgalts’ap and shortly after formed the new village of K’algiu (Hartley Bay). Others went to Alaska with Duncan and later returned to K’algiu, while still others remained in Alaska where their descendants still live.

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7. GITK’A’ATA TERRITORIES - LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U, KWILTS’OO, K’TS’IINI, K’TS’ATS’AAS (S. END), & KAGAAS

REGION

7.1 INTRODUCTION The Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u, Kwilts’oo, K’ts’iini, K’ts’ats’aas (S. End), & Kagaas territories make up one of the three main regions fundamental to the Gitk’a’ata economy and way of life. Whether in ancient times when the people lived in their territories or later when they wintered together in Old Town or in Hartley Bay, the role of this region has been paramount.

In modern times this region is the location of the spring harvest of the Gitk’a’ata. It includes a portion of Princess Royal Island and small adjacent islands, the eastern side of Campania Island, the south end of Gil Island, and nearby waters. K’yel, as the main camp is now called, is at the heart of the region. It is a base camp from which people travel to harvest their spring foods and then return to process them, or to store them for further processing in their winter village. Many of the foods gathered in this season were also processed for trade.

The abundant spring seafood and early salmon at Lax’a’lit’aa K’u’u, the seaweed and birds’ eggs at Kagaas, and halibut in the waters adjacent to these areas were the focus of the spring harvest but there was more than enough in this rich area to sustain people year round as attested by the comments on other activities in other seasons, such as hunting, trapping, winter seafood gathering, and berry-picking.

That this is a region of abundance is indicated by the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat.

The outer islands at the mouth of Douglas Channel are a particularly rich area for harvesting, salmon, halibut, seafood, seaweed . . . It has been noted that the area oceanographic processes concentrate prey, such processes as tidal mixing, eddies, upwelling, wind- and wave- driven currents and bathymetric features aggregate euphausiids and forage fish. The spring harvesting camp at K’yel was and is used as a base camp to harvest the rich resources of this area. Seafood in this area include meskaylo’op (metridium anemone), ‘yaans (black sea prune), ts’ak (chinese slipper), ts’igwe’ats and aswan (sea urchin), bilhaa (abalone), as well as ts’a’a (clams), gaboox (cockles) in the winter.40

There is also evidence of an earlier economic period in this region, namely year round harvesting with a central habitation site at Kyel. There is archaeological evidence of a village at Kyel and a large midden indicating use of winter seafood there. The spring activities were probably seaweed gathering and halibut fishing as they are today. There are numerous fish traps in the inlets on Princess Royal Island and Gil Island indicating the harvesting of salmon in the summer. There are berries, and marine and land mammals in the region for fall hunting and gathering. This early era probably preceded the establishment of the Temlaxam Gispwudada and then the period of warfare that followed, as, once peace had been established, people tended to centralize their habitation sites for defence and work together for trade purposes, thus creating the later pattern of one large seasonal tribal village.

An even earlier economy is also possible in that each individual territory in this region can itself sustain a lineage group year round. It is likely that this was the norm before central villages developed in each of the Gitk’a’ata regions, and later a single central village for all the Gitk’a’ata.

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7.2 LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U (NORTHWEST PRINCESS ROYAL ISLAND) HOUSE OF ‘WAHMOODEML/HOUSE OF NISMUULX (GISPWUDWADA)

7.2.1 TERRITORY: LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U (ON WHERE RUNS K’U’U (A RIVER)) SURF INLET AND ADJACENT AREAS, N. END OWNED BY ‘WAXMOON [‘WAHMOODEML] AND NISMUULX, GISPWUDWADA this island is for hunting, mink, bear (black), white bear is found there – only a species, beaver and other41

7.2.2 USE AREAS AND SITES ON LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U TERRITORY west side K’luk’ahyaa (Where Long Walk) (79, Chapple Inlet, northward Inlet on west side of Princess Royal Island, also called North Surf, 55)

K’xaan, Tkxeen, Foggy Place (80, SW point of Princess Royal Island, 111) Xeenaksm, Kxeen (Place of Mist or Fog) (82, for late sockeye (in August), west peninsula of Princess Royal Island, 201)

K’uu (86, Surf Inlet, 101)

Ktii (87, South Surf Inlet, 86)

Wisusgyen, Naxsaxsgyen (Where Make Pitch) (78, on west peninsula of Princess Royal Island, for picking seaweed, 192)

K’xayu’yu, Kxayu’it (Place for Hiding or Caching) (77, Clarke Cove, 112)

K’k’ahas (65, Barnard Harbour, 47)42

H: [Barnard Harbour] That was the herring spot. So the guys would go up there . . That used to be the herring, so people from K’yel would go up here to get herring, so they’d use live bait for their fishing either for springs or halibut. That’s where they get the herring.

HR et al: Barnard Cove – clams

AR: K’luk’ahyaa- coho in fall

AR: K’xaan – gets really foggy – sockeye creek there43

Ashdown Island & Duckers Island Wudisuuks (Near River Mouth) (67, a halibut area, a bank between Ashdown Island and Fawcett Point, 194)

K’itsmk’al (68, Ashdown Island, 44)

K’nabiyaaxl (Place Where Cliff) (69, on the west side of Ashdown Island, 61)

HR et al: Frank Dundas has a trapline at Ashdown ~ an island by K’yel.

BE: What do they call these - they look like a fan. . .scallops. I really like that. Out by Duckers [Duckers Island near Surf Inlet].

41 Barbeau and Beynon 1915-1957, B.F. 42.2 (Heber Clifton) 42 This section for each territory in this report is from Hartley Bay Place Names,1987. Most of the translations are by the author as part of this project, using a variety of dictionary and personal communication sources. The numbers on the map were assigned during the territorial mapping of Gitk’a’ata by the author under the auspices of the Tsimshian Tribal Council. 43 This section for each territory in this report is from Gitga’at Evidence Project, Interviews 2010-2011, and other interviews in the Gitga’at Archives. All initials refer to individuals from Gitk’a’ata interviewed by Ken Campbell, Elaine MacDonald or Susan Marsden. AR – Allan Robinson, A - Albert Clifton, H – Helen Clifton, HC – Henry Clifton, DD – Daniel Danes, BE – Belle Eaton, TL - Theresa Lowther, MR – Margaret Reece, SR – Stan Robinson, IE – Isabelle Eaton, TR – Tina Robinson, HR et al – Harvey Ridley, John Paul, Allan Robinson, George Clifton, Fred Dundas

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BE: One year we made 19 cases of abalone. Me and my husband used to go get some out in Duckers, low tide. And I used to go all over on the rocks.

MR: the Duckers, by the Duckers. Old Art Robinson, Mr. Robinson had a cabin there when they go out trapping.

IE: Abalone : you can get it in lax’gix’wadas [Lastsuswada?] MR: Abalone: we used to get abalone, lax d’suwada [Laxtsuswada, island near Duckers] - on the side of K’yel. We used to get them by the sacks. Ever since they closed that down, there is no abalone. They used to dry abalone, that’s the only way they could keep it. Later on, we canned them, we used to jar them by the cases.

7.2.3 MARINE USE AREAS IN LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U TERRITORY44 north end Lutguk’laxne’ex (Where Around On Killer Whales (Fins?)) (133, Mckay Reach 147)

west side Gisilgut’iin (Downriver Valley ?) (56, Whale Channel, 11)

Kwutisuuks (Place Just Near to Mouth of River) (63, Whale Channel, 108)

Ksum’iyooks, Ksm’I’oomksik (83, a shelter from storms at the tip of Princess Royal Island off Emily Carr Inlet, 84)

small islands and rocks on west side Laxtsuswada (On Where Don’t have to Sit) (85, an island near Duckers Island, south of Emily Carr Inlet, 138)

K’nusaxsgan, Nasaxsan, Nabaaxl (older name) (64, Brode Island, outside Barnard Cove near K’yel, pull cedar bark for mats, 68)

K’unlyaanst, Knlyaanst (Place for Chitons) (74, just below Kyel, pass and islands where you pick ‘yans, 100)

Laxkyenxl (75, off Ashdown Island, a rock in Casanave Passage between Barlow Point and McNeill Point, 133)

Wiiksubuu (Big Spray of Water) (76, a rock near Seabrook Point on Princess Royal Island in Campania Sound, 185)

Halknuaa, Halkna’aat (Along the Way Where Fern Root (Aa) (81, group of islands for abalone and seaweed, NE of Duckers, along (just below) west peninsula of Princess Royal Island, 20)

HC: There’s a place below the Duckers, but within that area . . It’s called Lax tsüs wada. Means you don’t have to sit down there in the weather. Any weather you can be fishing or hunting. Whatever. That’s what it means. And there was cabins on that little island.

AR: Ashdown Pass full of killerwhales in spring

AR: Wiiksubuu –sound of waves going in creates whistle sound

AR: Laxkyenxl – sea gull eggs and lots of sea lions

AR: Laxtsuswada – there was a lot of abalone there

7.2.4 K’YEL, IN LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U TERRITORY TL: [After trading] . . . we go into May. We would start going down to K’yel to collect seaweed, to collect ‘yaans - chitons. And all of this stuff we used to trade with. And what they would do, any of the clams that they’re collecting now, if they’re boiling them, they would keep the juice. Then they would use it for the seaweed, when the seaweed came. It sounds funny but you would collect the seaweed out of the ocean, and then you would dry it, but you had to wet it again, and they would use the clam juice to wet it down to give it extra flavour.

44 While almost all Gitk’a’ata territories have a marine focus, some are almost exclusively marine, such as, for example, ocean areas, very small islands and sea lion rocks, hence this separate section Marine Use Areas. 25

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TL: And then in May when we were down picking seaweed, not only did we pick seaweed, we picked ‘yaans, chitons, and they harvested halibut. That was the time to harvest halibut. And we would make woks, halibut strips out of that. And that was a big trading item that we had in Hartley Bay was the halibut. Halibut was a big thing. They used to trade, be able to go up country to Hazelton, and trade with the First Nations, the Tsimshian in Terrace. Halibut was one of our biggest things, and seaweed. I remember in Hartley Bay we used to have those big lard tins. Oh heavens we’d have hundreds of them full, then my parents would come and we’d go to Kitamaat and they would trade for grease.

When Kitamaat starting losing their grease so much, they would go to the Nisga’a. They traded lots with the Nisga’a for our seafood, I guess because of the different ways that we prepared it. So a lot of people relied on the waters, of what we could get out of the waters. One of the biggest things that we used to get at this time, in May, down at K’yel was abalone. Abalone was a big, big thing. This was done in K’yel, and when they came home whatever they couldn’t process down there on their last harvest they would take it home and we would finish it off at home. But that was another big thing that we did was the abalone.

In K’yel at the same time when they were doing that there was another one that they used to harvest a lot and that was the ts’ak [... giant / gumboot chitons]. There was a special way . . . they would process it and dry it, they’d dry these big ts’ak. It was a real delicacy for the inland Tsimshian [and delicacy for Hazelton, Nisga’a]. . . . They used to process it in such a way that when you rehydrated it again it was nice and soft and chewy.

Years ago it was Hartley Bay. Hartley Bay was the people that really harvested a lot of seaweed. Like I said, we used to have those big 5 gallon cans and they were just full of seaweed. [May and June...] Throughout the whole of this time our men would go out and they would be fishing for . . .yeeh, spring salmon. They’d be out and fishing for that. As soon as the weather gets warm enough so they could go out because they used to row everywhere. They would go through the narrows and whatnot and be fishing for yeeh or spring salmon.

BE: Towards the end of April is when they usually move down there, till first week of June, then they’d move back. I remember when we were kids . . .day in and day out, we used to sit from morning to night chopping seaweed, when they’d get some. Then I used to go across K’yel to help my grandmother when she did roasted seaweed. We’d have to get water from the beach. It’s got to be clean salt water to take up, to sprinkle on the seaweed, before she puts them up. And we’d put them on the rocks first, and when they’re nice and crispy she’d put them on top. She’d have some, she called it woot, sticks like. And she piled them on top of one another, and when they’re really roasted and when they turn sort of green, then we’d pound them on the sheet . . .

Where they dried their seaweed, they’d say this is mine. Where it’s sort of flat, lot of place to dry it. And then he’d go down, Ian would go down on the beach, and get some chitons and slippers and he’d give them to me to cook. For us to all share. Sometimes I’ll soak the chitons in fresh water, and when they’re soft then we’d eat them raw like that . . . He’d get about 20 or 30 or 40 of those slippers. And that keeps me busy to clean. I’d clean them and prepare them. I’d make him get some saltwater from the beach and that’s what I’d use to soak them in after I cleaned them. Then I put them in bags to freeze. Then he cooks it sometimes. Fried rice. Slipper fried rice. It’s good.

MR: Wherever it’s good. Wherever the seaweed is. Everybody. My grandfather, my dad’s father, used to take everybody out, never leaves anybody behind, and he used to tow the boats and then they’d just let them go, then they’d all pick at the same time. They tow the rowboats [out from K’yel] across to Campania. They go down [to K’yel] May, come back end of May. Some of them stay there till June. In them days, by the end of May, everybody had enough seaweed.

MR: We used to go down end of April, early May to K’yel and dry łask [seaweed], after they dry łask then they smoke fish, dry halibut. They would stay there, and move up [to Hartley Bay] in June. But I remember when they trade, seaweed. We’d have them in cakes and dry them. By the 24th of May, everybody was finished with seaweed, 24th of May they’d go up to Kitimaat, they celebrate the 24th of May. We traded seaweed for eulachons and eulachon grease. Alice and Simon Reece went to Kitlope/Kemano one winter, stayed there nearly the whole year I guess, getting grease.

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TR: Everyone goes to K’yel to pick seaweed. In K’yel they have their own rocks used by people for drying seaweed. On the big island . . . Seaweed is always picked in spring, people start moving down there May long weekend. Everyone goes together. We also preserve halibut during this time. This is where we used to get abalone.

IE: K’yel: Picking seaweed, grandmother took me out and showed me which seaweed to pick. They go way out to pick seaweed. You can get them in Rennison, Campania, Aristable. There’s lot of places you could get it down. Down by Duckers. Where the rocks are really high, is good seaweed, you’ve got to really watch yourself when you’re getting it there. We used to go out to get Yaans (Chinese slippers), gyenti (sea cucumber) down the beach in K’yel.

MR: In K’yel, in springtime: seaweed, they get lots of abalone, halibut and dry all this before returning to Hartley Bay. Everybody goes there, it’s just a very small reserve. Campania is the best place for seaweed. After all of the harvesting is done, is when some people would go and collect bark behind the houses, for basket weaving.

TR: Sea cucumber: When we’re in K’yel , we can go anywhere there.

SR: I used to stay with my grandmother down there [at K’yel]. I remember going down there when I was young there was lots of people down there.

MR: No-oh [Lucy Clifton] used to gather her bark down K’yel, up above where the camp is now . . . Down in K’yel, they waited ‘til they were finished getting all the foods available before picking bark, because of the belief that this will bring rain, and the sun is required for the drying of seaweed. Also, the bark [ha’dal] is dried on the beach too.

MR: Ha’dal (bark) . . . K’yel, where they anchor boats

IE: Fish: in the summer; all around the island across Hartley Bay, Deer Creek, Lowe Inlet, Old Town, down near K’yel. And we’d get halibut.

TL: K’yel was another place where they would get their medicinal plants in the spring. There’s different roots and what not. Aa [fern root]. They look like, I don’t know what you would call them . . . their root looks like a cluster of tiny little bananas . . . Anywhere where there’s a river . . . . in K’yel, that’s where they used to get wooms. Devil’s club - it had to be along a river . .

MR: We used to get seal in K’yel after everything is finished, the big rock below the houses used to be full of them. Everyone would dry them, smoke them and make seal grease.

MR: We stayed in K’yel when we first got married, in January, trapping, Simon and I, my dad [Louis Clifton] and Jack Pahl, Emily Douglas, and we’d get sea prunes, Chinese slippers. These were eaten fresh, did not dry them. Where people went, was determined by their crests.

HR et al: K’yel, seaweed, halibut, salmon

7.2.5 FISH TRAPS IN LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U TERRITORY HR et al: There was fish traps on Barnard Cove, at the creek/river there . . . Barnard Cove and Seabrook Point: John Pahl saw this, that is where his trap line is, 27 miles of it. This was passed down from his dad. He had another trap line with his name on it, him and Art Robinson.

HC: Inside Chapple Inlet there was fish traps. Inside, what is it, Racey Inlet, everybody calls it South Surf, there was fish trap. . . Away up inside.

HC: There was fish trap in one of these, too . . Inside the Duckers.

HC: Surf Inlet right . . where there was a fish trap. Was it Fin Bay up in Surf Inlet . . .Some of them were at the sides of the river. Not directly where the river flow would be. Some of them were just off to the side where they would trap the fish when the tide would go down . . I guess they would scare them with their canoes, and then wait till the tide goes down the those fish will be trapped in there, then they can take whatever they want.

7.2.6 TRAPLINES IN LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U TERRITORY HR: Another trapline is at Cornwall, was owned by William Robinson Sr., passed down to Allan Robinson.

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TR: Trapping: everybody had their own, Steven [Robinson], Weiler [Robinson], there’s a few, Fred [Bolton] used to go with them, they’d stay, just camp and they’d get good mink there at Lax gis wida [Laxtsuswada]. That’s Stevens (trapline), it’s Jimmy Robinson’s trapline now.

7.2.7 RESERVES IN LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U TERRITORY IR 7 Kahas – Barnard Harbour (K’k’ahas) IR 8 Kayel – south of Redfern Point and east of Ashdown Island (K’yel) IR 9 Lackzuswadda - on Sager Islands, near entrance to Chapple Inlet (Laxtsuswada)

7.3 KWILTS’OO (NORTHWEST PRINCESS ROYAL ISLAND) HOUSE OF ‘WIINEMOOLK/ HOUSE OF NISNAM’O/HOUSE OF TS’UXKA/HOUSE OF ‘WIIHAYWAAXS/HOUSE OF NISYAGAS/HOUSE OF T’MGAWS (GANHADA)

7.3.1 TERRITORY: KWILTS’OO, CORNWALL INLET (ALSO CALLED RIVERS BIGHT) OWNED BY ‘WIINEMOOLK, NISNAM’O, TS’UXKA, ‘WIIHAYWAAXS, NISYAGAS, T’MGAWS, GANEDA this island is for hunting, mink, bear (black), white bear is found there – only a species, beaver and other; salmon at Rivers Bight and highbush cranberries, crabapples45

7.3.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN KWILTS’OO TERRITORY Kwults’uu (territory name (no #), Cornwall and Drake Inlets on Prince Royal island, 107)

Ksgwisgwas, Kusgwisgwas (location not specified on original map) (Drake Inlet, a branch off Cornwall Inlet within Rivers Bight, 79)

SR: Cornwall. I went there with Archie [Dundas] for coho one year. You get seal there, sea cucumber. . . . I remember Archie saying that the river on the left, the coho were better for wooks, because they didn’t have nowheres to climb, so their meat wasn’t tough. But on this side there was falls all along there, because there was connecting lakes. So when there was nothing here, we eventually went there, but most of the time it was over here. . . . Berries throughout the whole... wherever you look there’s berries. We put a house in Cornwall there too . . . I was with Archie one time and we got a mountain goat in here, too. Right just before we got to the river where the fish go.

AR: Beaver trapping at Kwilts’oo

7.3.3 TRAPLINES IN KWILTS’OO, TERRITORY HR et al: “Another trapline is at Cornwall, was owned by William Robinson Sr., passed down to Allan Robinson.”

7.3.4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN KWILTS’OO TERRITORY The recorded span of red cedar bark harvests then covers the period from 1500 through to the 1920s.i

7.4 K’TS’IINI (NORTHWEST PRINCESS ROYAL ISLAND) HOUSE OF ‘WIINEMOOLK/ HOUSE OF NISNAM’O/HOUSE OF TS’UXKA/HOUSE OF ‘WIIHAYWAAXS/HOUSE OF NISYAGAS/HOUSE OF T’MGAWS (GANHADA)

7.4.1 TERRITORY: K’TS’IINI, WHALEN LAKE AND WATERSHED – WESTERN PORTION OWNED BY ‘WIINEMOOLK, NISNAM’O, TS’UXKA, ‘WIIHAYWAAXS, NISYAGAS, T’MGAWS, GANEDA this island is for hunting, mink, bear (black), white bear is found there – only a species, beaver and other46

45 Barbeau and Beynon 1915-1957, B.F. 42.2 (Heber Clifton) 46 Barbeau and Beynon 1915-1957, B.F. 42.2 (Heber Clifton) 28

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7.4.2 TRAPLINES IN K’TS’IINI TERRITORY TR: Trapping, Whalen Lake belonged to William Robinson Sr.

TR: Gulju, Whalen Lake, belonged to William Robinson Sr.

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FIGURE 1: LAX’A’LIT’AA K’U’U, KWILTS’OO AND K’TS’IINI TERRITORIES

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7.5 K’TS’ATS'AAS (GIL ISLAND, S. END) HOUSE OF ‘WAHMOODEML/HOUSE OF NISMUULX (GISPWUDWADA)

7.5.1 TERRITORY: K’TS’ATS’AAS (SOUTH END) - GIL ISLAND (SOUTH END) OWNED BY ‘WAXMOON [‘WAHMOODEML] AND NISMUULX, GISPWUDWADA

7.5.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (S. END) south end K’dulaa (Where Tongue) (60, a reserve on south end of Gil Island, 40)

K’li’kait, K’lii’ais (61, Taylor Bight, west of York Point, 53)

Xai’iit, K’xa’iit, (62, York Point, SE end of Gil Island, 198)

K’tulhoonm K’yel (Where the Salmon of Kyel Appear) (58, Yugoslav Bay, steelheads in spring, 94)

Gidise’ik (Where Stops Pulling) (59, river mouth? west of Taylor Bight, 205)

K’tsagat, Kts’axt (Where Giant Chiton, China Slipper) (66, Fawcett Point, halibut fishing grounds around this point, 89)

southwest side Ukstmgaus (Head Looking Out to Sea) (96, directly across from Ferryhough Point, 180)

east side K’wi’t’iin (Place of Large Fish Trap), Lutgulgut’iin (Where Steep Valley) (57, between Camp Islet and Shrub Point, 106)

MH: berry picking at Gil Island - Fawcett Point

TR: Lagthgi giiks - Gil Island, across K’yel, the point, that’s where you get good bark

IE: Go deer hunting . . along Gil Island.

SR: labn [seal rock]. . Gil Island

AR: steelhead [in streams on Gil Island]

HC: That was where the old ladies had their potato gardens [Gil Island], Gi-is Goys, No-oh and Gi-is Robinson. That was their garden, so the earth was good, that’s why they opened it for a graveyard.

TR: Burial sites are known to be at Gil Island

HR et al: The garden of Hartley Bay was on Gil Island, where the graveyard is now.

7.5.3 MARINE AREAS IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (S. END) south end Kwutisuuks (Place Near to Mouth of River) (63, Whale Channel between southern Gil Island and Ashdown Island, 108)

DD: “[Halibut fishing grounds near Gil Island] - there’s a place out here, a shallow spot, I think they call it Sa ha nii. It’s a hot spot there. This way, you set in this way too, it’s snaggy area, you’ve got to watch out . . . There’s a reef there. There’s land marks they use this way, that way, to find it. I used to know it. I know the one this way, there’s a kind of an X that you go by, on the mountain. Not a full X, but you could see it. Then you go by landmarks, point to point, then there’s a mark this way, too. This point has to line up.”

small island at south end T’uksgangan, Trees All Around (95, Skinner Island, 169)

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east side Gisilgut’iin (Down Below Valley) (56, Whale Channel between Gil Island and Princess Royal Island, 11)

7.5.4 FISH TRAPS IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (S. END) HR et al: [Fish traps] Yugoslav [Bay]

HC: The way the beach looks in Fish Bay, it looks like they were huge fish traps, like Hartley Bay. We called it the pond. That’s what it looked like in there.

7.5.5 TRAPLINES IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (S. END) AR: Simon Reece (upper area), Dick Wilson (Yugoslav Bay), Robert Reece (west side), Fred Bolton

DD:” Our trap line runs from Fish Bay [Gil Island, south end] here, goes all the way to the point there. Inside the place they call [???] Skinner Island, inside there I walked in the bush one time. I heard there was a wolf deadfall there, so I went and found it, quite a few years ago. The posts were still there. About three feet wide, 4 feet deep. I don’t know how they set it up. Robert Reece used to catch wolves in deadfalls. The wolves would get trapped just like the marten do, and mink. It’s probably still there. It’s not right along the shore, just a little ways in, in a grassy area. It’s quite a few years ago when I found it.”

IE: “Yugoslav Bay, where Herman is, on the bottom end of Gil Island, is Dick Wilson’s trapline.”

TR: At the bottom end of Gil Island, there’s a gumshewa there, Herman , he has a house, there, everything. And I don’t know whose trapline that is. It could be Dick’s [Wilson] or the Reece’s.

HR et al: “Robert Reece also had a trapline . . Fawcett Point, and part of Yugoslav Bay. Old man Simon has a trapline on Gil Island ~ it was passed on to Orlando C. Bolton.”

DD: At night, sometimes we’d go into Fish Bay, where the end of that trapline is . . .Along the beach we’d roll over these big rocks and we used to catch those snails, those black snails. They call them lo’ox [eels]. The mink just go crazy over that, they just love that stuff. We used that for bait. Always catch mink when we use that . . .When the tides low, we used to run the gaslight and go ashore, roll these big rocks over and catch those big snails.

Simon’s job was running along the beach. When I’m rowing I let Ronny or Sonny check the deadfalls, set it again. Come down, shaking mink. Taking the mud off, or water, whatever. Used to trap deadfalls, never used traps. All you needed was a sharp knife, sharp axe, bait, and away you go. They used to know how to set the deadfall, and how you put the bait in there. They used to put a string on the end of the bait so they can tie the bait on it, so the mink wouldn’t rip it off, they’d have to pull it off. When they pull that thing out that’s when it collapses, collapses right on their heart, all that weight. That’s when they die. And you don’t set a deadfall right on the trail. Mink have a trail along the shore and you set it just above the trail. They smell the bait and go in there. . . [We worked] from the boat. We lived on the boat. We had no cabins there. I guess a long time ago the old people used to have cabins.

7.5.6 RESERVES IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (S. END) IR. 11 Maple Point – south end Gil Island (K’dulaa)

7.5.7 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (S. END) Report on Taylor Creek, Gil Island A total of 39 CMTs were identified and documented, 17 on the west side and 22 on the east side of Taylor Creek. Only CMTs encountered within the survey zones were recorded; many other CMTs were observed outside the survey areas. The date range for all standing living CMTs at Taylor Creek (studied in the October 14 and 15 surveys) is likely between the mid- 1700s through to 1930, approximately. Taylor Creek is a significant salmon stream emptying into Taylor Bight (known locally as Yugoslav Bay) at the south end of Gil Island. The Creek is known to Gitga’at families as an important salmon river, with a large, thick rimmed stoneworks fish trap located next to the mouth on the west side. 47

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7.6 KAGAAS (CAMPANIA ISLAND, EAST SIDE) HOUSE OF TXATKWATK/HOUSE OF HUHUULK (LAXSKIIK)

7.6.1 TERRITORY: KAGAAS, K’AK’AAS (WINGS OF … ) CAMPANIA ISLAND – EAST SIDE OWNED BY TXATKWATK & HUHUULK, LAXSKIIK hunting, seaweed gathered48

7.6.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN KAGAAS TERRITORY south end K’a’win (90, Eclipse Point, 36)

Maskga’aus (Red Sand) (91, bay,150)

Xahau, Kxahau (92, Fly Bay, near Eclipse Point, 197)

east side K’unlgumat (Place of Eggs) (94, bay for seagull eggs, people lowered themselves down off the cliffs with ropes, 97)

HC “In the spring. April May June. You had to know the circuit . . . You had to know exactly when those birds were going to lay their eggs. So you would travel from one island to another as they were laying their eggs. Same with on Campania Island, there’s a gull that lays their eggs up on the mountains there . . .they would crawl up on the mountain to get them.”

H: K’unlgumat - “It’s all sheer rock down the one side. He [Johnny Clifton] said long ago they used to pick seagull eggs there. And they had cedar ropes and they would lower themselves down and they put them in, they had the grass in the basket on their backs . . . He said cedar ropes, so that would be before “ropes.”

HC: “In the winter dad and them went out, my grandfather and his father went out to Campania and Artistazable, Otter Pass, they went to places where they knew fish were going to be all year round, to gather food. And abalone.”

AR: Kagaas - seaweed and seafood gathering (from base camp at K’yel)

MR: “Then way across, I forgot the name of it now, there was house there. We used to stay there too. In the winter, and the spring time when we’d go out, for seaweed . . .on Campania.”

MR: “Wherever it’s good. Wherever the seaweed is. Everybody. My grandfather, my dad’s father, used to take everybody out, never leaves anybody behind, and he used to tow the boats and then they’d just let them go, then they’d all pick at the same time . . . They tow the rowboats across to Campania [from K’yel] . . . any time, even it’s a small tide or a big tide they pick it, when the tide’s low . . They tow them home when they’re finished.”

MR: “We don’t usually get any seaweed out there. They’re different out there. They’re not as good as the inside. We never did pick any out there. [out there is west side Campania, inside is east side]”

IE: Picking seaweed, grandmother took me out and showed me which seaweed to pick. They go way out to pick seaweed. You can get them in Rennison, Campania, Aristable. There’s lot of places you could get it down.

MH:Campania is the best place for seaweed.

HC: One place was on Campania Island for house posts.

MH: Hat’al [cedar bark strips] Campania, Ariztable.

AR: Fog on top of Kagaas means it’s going to blow the next day.

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7.6.3 MARINE AREAS IN KAGAAS TERRITORY Wilgidimxks (93, a spanaxnox where it tightens near Fawcett Point, x216)

small islands at south end Laxgudziis (89, Alexander Island,118)

Ksgogat (101, Dupont Island, 78 )

7.6.4 TRAPLINES IN KAGAAS TERRITORY IE: “Just about the top end of Campania, is Alfred Anderson’s trapline. There was a house there.”

7.6.5 RESERVES IN KAGAAS TERRITORY A reserve was requested for the south end of Campania Island by Gitk’a’ata but was not approved.

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FIGURE 2: KAGAAS AND K’TS’ATSAAS (S. END) TERRITORIES

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8. GITK’A’ATA TERRITORIES - K’TS’ATS’AAS (N. END), LAXKWILDZIIST, MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS, K’ALGIIU, K’I’IDZUL REGION

8.1 INTRODUCTION In the seasonal cycle of the modern Gitk’a’ata economy, this region includes some of the main areas for the fall and winter activities of hunting and trapping, especially in Union Pass and along Grenville Channel. The Gitk’a’ata hunt and trap a wide range of land and sea mammals, almost always in areas in or near the ocean and along beaches, This region also includes Fin Island, which is exceptionally rich in winter seafoods such as clams and cockles, and K’algiiu,49 the modern year round village of the Gitk’a’ata.

As with the first region discussed above, this area shows evidence of probable year round occupation in earlier times, with both habitation sites and fish traps at the north end of Gil Island, on Fin Island, in Union Pass, and at the present site of Gitk’a’ata. For example, the habitation site on the northern end of Gil Island is a prime location for a central year round village, as it is located near “rich tidal and fishery resources, including large numbers of returning salmon and extensive clam beds,”50 as well as nearby access to marine and land mammals. As well, the habitation site on Fin Island is known to have been the original year round or winter village of the early Eagle clan lineage led by Huhuulk before they joined other lineages at Laxgalts’ap in Douglas Channel.

As well, each of the territories within this region could have supported a single lineage (several housegroups) year round as they were not only rich in fall and winter resources, but also offered salmon fishing, berry picking and spring seafood gathering.

8.2 K’TS’ATS’AAS (NORTH END) (GIL ISLAND NORTH END) HOUSE OF ‘WAHMOODEML/HOUSE OF NISMUULX (GISPWUDWADA)

8.2.1 TERRITORY: K’TS’ATS’AAS (NORTH END) - GIL ISLAND (NORTH END) OWNED BY ‘WAXMOON [‘WAHMOODEML] AND NISMUULX, GISPWUDWADA old village site at north end51 [‘Wahmoodemlk ] established a village called Ts’ats’aat on Gil Island [soon after he arrived]52 Ancestral village site identified by George Robinson53

8.2.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (N. END) north end K’dzahdzaadz (37, Turtle Point, 42)

K’distsausk, Kdisausk (35, NE end Gil Island, jig for fish at Gil Rock, cod, halibut, north wind blows down the channel, calm only in the spring, 39)

Nusugal’oosk (Where Harvest Stomach) (36, Juan Point, 160)

northwest side Luk’a’amuus (38, facing Lewis Passage, 142)

49 The name currently in use for Hartley Bay is Txalgiu (to paddle). Personal Communication, Ernie Hill 50 Garrick, 1999 51 Barbeau and Beynon 1915-1957, B.F. 42.2 (Heber Clifton) 52 Duff Files, n.d. Gitk’a’ata, (Edmund Patelas) 53 Indian Reserve Commission 1916

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T’uksganuyaan (From the Top of Deadfall Trap Walk) (40, Black Rock Point, 170)

Ktisgaidz (41, MacDonald Bay, 88)

K’naganhoon (Place Toward Salmon) (39, Crane Bay, 62)

HC: [Driftwood for firewood] - on top of Gil Island was a great one, because of the way the wind was pushing. They knew exactly where to go, across from Gil Island, bottom of Farrant, where the east winds would blow wood onto, north wind on top of Gil Island, where they wouldn’t have to go too far.

MH: berry picking at Gil Island - Turtle Point

MH: berry picking at Gil Island - Lag’n’haun [K’naganhoon]

8.2.3 MARINE AREAS IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (N. END) north end Xbunaxnox (Where Spouts a Naxnox) (34, Wright Sound, 200)

location ? SR: “There’s also a rock in there they call labn. That belongs to Killerwhale. You’re guaranteed to get a seal whenever you walk in there. There’s a few around, like Gil Island, Union Pass.

west side Maxlak’lak’ask’os (Through Where Were Cranes) (42, Lewis Passage, between Fin Island and Gil Island, 151)

8.2.4 RESERVES IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (N. END) IR 12 Turtle Point - old village site on NW point Gil Island, Ktzadzats: Coast District on the northeast point of Gil Island (Ref. Map 14C, BC, Map3P, allotted by Royal Commission, 17th May 1916) (K’dzahdzaadz) IR 13 Kunhunoan - Plover Point and Bay NW side Gil Island (K’naganhoon)

8.2.5 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN K’TS’ATS’AAS TERRITORY (N. END) Report on Turtle Creek, Gil Island A total of 14 CMT features were identified inside the surveyed parts of eastern Turtle Creek mouth area. Turtle Creek is an important salmon stream located near Turtle Point, the northernmost tip of Gil Island. The creek empties into the ocean inside Turtle Point Indian Reservation 12, through a forest that has never been logged industrially. The site was well known in Hartley Bay because of the rich tidal and fishery resources, including large numbers of returning salmon and extensive clam beds. Gleaming piles of shell midden material are clearly visible to boat traffic, and at lower tides several circular and semi-circular stonework fish traps are apparent. An historic gravesite and older gravesite are tended regularly by Hartley Bay residents. 54

8.3 LAXKWILDZIIST (FIN ISLAND) HOUSE OF TXATKWATK/HOUSE OF HUHUULK (LAXSKIIK)

8.3.1 TERRITORY: LAXKWILDZIIST (ON WHERE (CLAMS ARE) SQUIRTING) FIN ISLAND OWNED TXATKWATK & HUHUULK, LAXSKIIK “Fin Island also belongs to this group of Laxskiik”55 ancestral home of Huhuulk, Laxskiik

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8.3.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN LAXKWILDZIIST TERRITORY beaches important area for clams, especially at big tides beginning in November BE: “From November, towards the end of October, they used to dig cockles till February. Then by ..... November they used to go for clams, too. Till March. Then you quit. Cause they’re mating . . . Everywhere you go, there’s cockles and there’s clams. And people don’t know. They figure its just in one place, like Kishkosh or Big Bay or Mossy Bay. But there’s some by Return Creek, and by Fin Island. And you could go in the bay of Fin Island too, to get cockles. Especially right by Clamstown. And then some people are lucky when they go out, when it’s snowing like this, the deer comes down at low tide. They’d get about 10, 20 deer at a time. They’d dish it out to the people.”

IE: “We get our clams at L’ugth’we’geesks [Laxkwildziist], that’s Fin Island. Pick these at certain time of the year. We go dig at lugth’gi’jeeks. Fin Island we got good clams. The higher up on the beach, you get the young ones, further down the beach, you get the older ones. We usually start getting our shellfish in October, last week, and we quit around the middle of February, clams and cockles. G’yels - the best time to get it is when the north wind comes, and it’s cold, in December. They grow when it gets cold.”

MR: “They go for clams and cockles this time of year [winter] . . . a lot of places, Fin Island and Union Pass, up Old Town, Kishkosh.”

MH:” Lax kwil dziidz - people used to camp to get clams, there’s lots of clams. Fin Island.”

SR et al: “Fin Island - clams”

MR: “clams and cockles: around January when they pick clams, everybody went together on boats. No-oh used to go to Lax kwil dziidz [aka Clamtown] with Alice Reece, daas’m Annie, gi-is Gois. They used to camp there, they had a little house there.

BE: What do they call these.. they look like a fan. . .scallops . . . I guess you can get it anywhere cause in Clamstown you can get it there too. And slippers and chitons.

land areas BE: Indian Rice. . . .You can get it anywhere, on Fin Island, anywhere.

BE: There was cabins . . . over at Fin Island.

TL: On Fin Island there was a place that they used to go, lax kwil dziidz, that’s where they used to go. [What they call Clamtown.] Years ago when I was a young girl, lax kwil dziidz, certain people used to go there . . I remember my mom and dad had a house in lax kwil dziidz. I don’t know how many years ago.. my sister’s 65 this year. When she was a young girl in her teens it burned down. It had burned down. They were out there and they were picking [clams].

SR: [Plants] for medicines that they showed me what to get was here in the village. There was some here but other times we went to Kishkosh, Lowe Inlet, Union Pass, Fin Island.“

SR: Fin Island was one of the main spots for that [Dza’wes, Salal berries].

IE: We used to pick Salal berries in Fin Island, and huckleberries, blueberries

TR: “Salmonberries , blueberries, crabapples are harvested in and around Hartley Bay, Fin Island, Old Town. We used to all go together - they used to have a lot of canoes there, Old Town.”

SR: “Also in Hawk Bay [west coast of Fin Island] is another place where we get the cedar bark. And then this inlet here. And clam beds...”

8.3.3 MARINE AREAS IN LAXKWILDZIIST TERRITORY Lutk’ik’sans (All Around Maggots (fish with maggots)) (43, Cridge Passage, 149)

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DD: “This is Fin Island, and Blossom Point [Farrant Island] . . You used to set out this way. Long time ago, with Simon [Reece]. And out this way. And this is where you get black cod. Big black cod. So if you ever want to catch black cod you set a gear here. You get black cod out in the deep here. And you could set halibut gear along here, and another place we used to fish was along here [on top of Fin there].”

8.3.4 RESERVES IN LAXKWILDZIIST TERRITORY IR 6 Lach kul-jeets – Clamtown, on a small bay on east side Fin Island (Laxkwildziist)

8.4 MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS (SE PITT ISLAND, FARRANT ISLAND, HINTON ISLAND) HOUSE OF TXATKWATK/HOUSE OF HUHUULK (LAXSKIIK)

8.4.1 TERRITORY: MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS (THROUGH NARROWS WHERE MEET STRONG WINDS) OWNED BY TXATKWATK & HUHUULK, LAXSKIIK hunting, some salmon more recently the territory has been claimed by the Gitkxaala56

8.4.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS TERRITORY Lutgukwa’ats (45, east side of Farrant Island, east of Pitt Island, south of Grenville Channel and west of Wright Sound, 211)

Miyaanloop (Base of Rock) (47, on Grenville Channel, island side, up from Hawkins Narrows, 158)

Ha’tiksm T’o’tsup (Fortress Changing Place in Water) (44, Ashcroft Islet, where Tsimshian threw a copper cannon in the water, 16)

K’duwaadz (52, Tuwartz Inlet, on Pitt Island, 41)

Maxlakts’mt’aa (Through Into Lake, Through Inlet) (46, Union Passage, 155)

HC: After travelling around in the summer. . . when I was a kid, we’d have to go down to Old Town or out to Aristable or Union Pass to gather fish and seals, deer.. . . A wide range of places, not the same every year. But to utilize a lot of the ... depending on weather and what was productive. Of course the elders knew exactly what was productive that year, so they would go to certain areas and leave other areas alone that weren’t productive.

AR: Union Pass - sockeye

HC: For certain people they knew the places like the back of their hand. When you seal hunt you don’t just travel along in a boat and shoot a seal. In an area let’s say this big right here, within Union Pass on the outside, I can show you 20 places where they sleep. And they sleep on the bottom underwater, and when they come up, we call that nlebn, and just before they go back down they take a big deep breath. Sometimes their head lifts, or they just go down real quietly. You have to watch for that and shoot them just then, so that they float. But there is seal all over. Even right in the middle of our offshore. They’re out there. They travel with the feed. . . Union Pass, the dzimda’a, the lagoon, there’s tons there. It depends on the salmon, if they’re going to stay there or not.

SR: There’s also a rock in there they call labn . . There’s a few around, like . . . Union Pass

SR: labn for seal . . . in Tuwartz, all along there

IE: Union Pass, we used to go all the time, on the west side. Go deer hunting . . .We hunt deer at a certain time of the year, in the Fall. In the Spring, they are mating, deer are not very healthy, they’re building up their strength, and they’re not fat. Especially when you hunt for seal, the best time to get it is when they’re finished mating, after Spring. All summer they’re feeding on salmon.

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DD: I started seining when I was fourteen years old, and I remember running through Grenville Channel. When I was a young boy I used to sit on deck and look at Pitt Island, count the mountain goats, going up. 20, 30 goats in one go. Today you can’t even see one, nothing there. Hunted by helicopter. You don’t see nothing there. You don’t even see a goat.

MR: Round January when they pick clams, everybody went together on boats . . . Union Pass, they’d get some there . . They used to sell clams, we went all over.

DD: Gyels we used to go to either . . . outside Union Pass. You didn’t pick just anywhere for mussels, there was certain places where there was big ones. That’s where you went. Hagwn, that was one thing the old people were strict with. They never picked hagwn until the day you were done, before you quit. That’s the day... because it always blows after you pick.

MR: This time of year [April]. Well they go for clams and cockles this time of year. . .a lot of places, . . . Union Pass. . .

MR: Around January when they pick clams, everybody went together on boats. . . Around Union Pass, they’d get some there . . .They used to sell clams, we went all over.

SR: For medicines . . Union Pass

8.4.3 FISH TRAPS ON MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS TERRITORY SR: Union Pass has a couple of fish traps. Inside [the pass].

8.4.4 PETROGLYPHS ON MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS TERRITORY SR: Petroglyphs, there’s some outside Union Pass. I’ve seen those ones.

HC: There’s pictographs through here. You can stand on the rocks and they’re right there, you can see them [In Union Pass in that western channel there].

8.4.5 TRAPLINES ON MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS TERRITORY HR et al: Alfred Anderson has a trapline on left hand side of Pitt Island, in Grenville Channel.

HR et al: Uncle Ed’s [Clifton] trapline . . . he has a portion at Farrant Island

HC: “Bottom of Pitt Island. Outside Union Pass. . . My trap line goes out to. . . the bottom tip of Pitt Island . . .All this is my trapline. I’d go every fall, for I don’t know how many years I went there.”

8.4.6 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS TERRITORY One habitation site and and one stone fish trap were identified on Farrant Island and one habitation site on Hinton Island.57

8.5 K’ALGIIU (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE, HARTLEY BAY) HOUSE OF ‘WAHMOODEML/HOUSE OF NISMUULX (GISPWUDWADA)

8.5.1 TERRITORY: K’ALGIIU (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) OWNED BY ‘WAXMOON [‘WAHMOODEML] AND NISMUULX, GISPWUDWADA58

8.5.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN K’ALGIIU TERRITORY Wilgilkst’k’it’alk (21, Halsey Point, north end of Hartley Bay, 183)

‘Uksganwlwalgit (22, Sutton Point, south end of Hartley Bay, 178)

Maxlawllulguul (Where the Way Through is Narrow) (23, Stewart Passage, between Promise Island and the mainland, 156)

Ksgasooxs (Where Across the Way Driftwood) (24, Coghlan Anchorage, 77)

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K’alat’aa (26, Observation Point, on mainland below Hartley Bay, 28)

K’algiiu (164, Hartley Bay, present town, 32)

Lulaxk’yoox (165, Malsey Bay, in Douglas Channel south of Hartley Bay, 146)

K’al, K’ol (166, Bear Place, on mainland across fro Promise Island, 23)

Ksgank’o (Place All Around Kelp) (167, Brodie Point, on Promise Island, 75)

Ksgaluui (Where Across the Way Willow (?)) (168, on the west coast of Promise Island below Brodie Point, 74)

Laxkwduunxl , Laxkduunxl (169, Promise Island, 130)

IE: Fish: in the summer; all around the island across Hartley Bay

TR: Sea Cucumber: in Hartley Bay, you could go through the pass on the island side

MR: Clams & Cockles: around January when they pick clams . . we used to go right down the beach here [Hartley Bay] for cockles and clams.

MR: Gyels: Mussels, we would only pick these certain time of the year, around Hartley Bay

TL: [Beaver] Those you’d get out of the ponds, up in the lakes . . .up behind Hartley Bay there’s a place there.

SR: For medicines that they showed me what to get was here in the village.

MR: Ha’dal (bark) usually picked right behind the village of Hartley Bay

TR: Good bark, - you do get it in Hartley Bay too.

DD: Somewhere down on the point there. That’s where, he was telling me, that’s where Peter Long used to hunt deer up in the mountain. He walked up the mountain a little ways. Always came back with a big deer, a big buck. Last him all winter. That was his hunting ground. He used to row there, or sail. Used to have rowboats, they’d just put up a sail, and away they go. They didn’t row all the way.

TL: We had... just about every place in Hartley Bay used to have kind of like a root cellar. Ours was under our house and it was very very cold. I remember our... my grandfather and my dad, used to dig out snow. And then pour water on it and freeze it, and they’d keep things in there that they wanted to keep for quite a while. . . . We used to have big crocks. Every household had these big ... we called lukgwinoll. But they were big crocks that they’d have . . .You’d put that in the ground and it would hold ... the coolness would stay for a long time. And they had very tight lids on them. And that was another way that they would keep things. Every household used to have tons of these things laying around. I remember at one of our houses in Hartley Bay, Dad had built a special little room for it down under the house. Because all our houses were on pilings so that the air would pass through. He built a special little room down and that’s where we had all these crock pots. And that’s where they kept all the stuff. and clams and cockles, like I said, cockles could be smoked, and they could be jarred. And clams they would jar them all. And we would use them from trading.

8.5.3 FISH TRAPS ON K’ALGIIU TERRITORY HC: . . . huge fish traps, like Hartley Bay.

HR et al: There are two fish traps in Hartley Bay, near the mouth of the river. The can still be seen from helicopter pad.

8.5.4 RESERVES ON K’ALGIIU TERRITORY IR. 4 Kuklayu IR 4A

8.6 K’I’IDZUL (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) HOUSE OF ‘WAHMOODEML/HOUSE OF NISMUULX (GISPWUDWADA)

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8.6.1 TERRITORY: KI’IDZUL (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) OWNED BY ‘WAXMOON [‘WAHMOODEML] AND NISMUULX, GISPWUDWADA a small valley used by Waxmoon for hunting and berry picking59

8.6.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN KI’IDZUL TERRITORY K’amuula (Place Good for Seal (?)) (19, north of Mount Pocock, west side of Douglas Channel, 33)

P’isgunax, P’isgwinakt (20, a sheltered bay above Hartley Bay, above Alex Creek, hunt along the flats, 161)

8.6.3 FISH TRAPS ON KI’IDZUL TERRITORY HR et al: [Fish traps] in Ki’egl [Ki’idzul], just around the point from Hartley Bay heading towards Old Town.

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FIGURE 3: K’TS’ATSAAS (N. END), LAXKWILDZIIST, MAXLA KSATXALGAAXS, K’ALGIIU, K’I’IDZUL TERRITORIES

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FIGURE 4: FISH TRAPS AND HABITATION SITES - MOUTH OF DOUGLAS CHANNEL circle – fish trap square – habitation site

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9. GITK’A’ATA TERRITORIES – K’WAAL, K’K’A’AT, KT’ULHON, KSUWII, K’NISIWULWAL, K’TISKOS REGION

9.1 INTRODUCTION This region is the centre of summer activity in the modern Gitk’a’ata economy. Here salmon is harvested and preserved in smokehouses for winter, and a wide variety of berries and plants are gathered.

As with the other two regions, there is the potential for a variety of highly productive economic activities close to the central village site. In this case, however, the habitation site is known to have been a central year round village of considerable longevity. Laxgalts’ap, as it is now called, was the last central village the Gitk’a’ata inhabited before they were dispersed by missionary activity, and it was the one they returned to briefly before settling at K’algiiu. Laxgalts’ap is also the only central village to have been inhabited before “contact” by all the lineages of all the clans of the Gitk’a’ata, but this was the case only after the turmoil of the invasion period had ended, several centuries ago.

Before this invasion period, the earlier village founded by ‘Wahmoodeml was located at or near Laxgalts’ap and was the central village for his Gispwudwada lineage. At that time the other lineages with territory in this region, such as the early Eagle lineage, probably had villages within their own territories, later joining the Giispwudwada at Laxgalts’ap. The territories in this region, like those in the other two regions, could each sustain a lineage year round.

9.2 K’WAAL (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE, QUAAL RIVER) HOUSE OF ‘WAHMOODEML /HOUSE OF NISMUULX (GISPWUDWADA)

9.2.1 TERRITORY: K’WAAL (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) OWNED BY ‘WAXMOON [‘WAHMOODEML] AND NISMUULX, GISPWUDWADA used as a salmon fishing station, for fruit and for hunting60

9.2.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN K’WAAL TERRITORY Mugonl K’waal (Headwaters of K’waal River) (1, at the head of the Quaal River in Old Town, 159)

K’unlugiimk (4, White River, a tributary of the Quaal River in Old Town, 99)

K’alagats (6, a river in Old Town other than Quaal River, humpbacks, coho, 24)

K’ala K’waal (Up the K’waal River) (7, Quaal River in Old Town, 27)

K’ba’ats (8, a tributary to the Quaal River in Old Town, humpbacks, 37)

BE: When we used to move up to OId Town, we used to get berries up there. Blueberries up in Quaal River, up in Ga’ata. Txasda . . . [south side of inlet] this is where the sweet crabapples are . . .they’re sort of brown on the bottom like apples. And they’re really sweet. Oh, I just love them preserved. And they used to pick wild cranberries up on the hill here someplace. There’s a falls. There was big... bunchberries. They’re really big. Then they used to go up here for... in the fall . . highbush cranberries . . There’s tons of it up there in the river. Cause man made island is around here someplace. It’s up above it. You could go all the way to Skeena. [route connecting with Ecstall River.]

IE: Springtime: No-oh used to take us up to Old Town in the Spring, to go get t’siu [bark]. I used to go up here with Auntie Alice too, at Jap Creek. In May, June they get it. That’s when they’re easy to gather, even the Alder and the Devils Club, they’re easy to scrape off. Devils club you can get all year round, but it’s easier to get in the spring. Everywhere, here in Hartley Bay, and going to Mossy Bay. And she’d [No-oh] take us to Old Town, getting skin sticks, April, May. We’d stay for a

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week. She’d jar it, and fry it with grease, and add sugar after. We do all the humps at Old Town, in August, about five hundred, then we’d do coho, sockeye. They were all really dried. She would salt down the half smoked. And when she has a feast, that’s when she soaks them.

IE: When we get into Old Town, we’d go for blueberries, moolks [crabapples], ‘gus’a’see ~ wild crabapples. The sweet ones. moolksa’ga’ow ~like grapes, reddish color moolks. The b’o’igths is way up by Quaal. Walk up to the river, in Tsau’a’ista, there’s a place where they pick wild cranberries. Go up to Gula’qwal, there is nothing but th’lia. And lots of bunch berries ~ ‘k’up goop . . . Edith Robinson, [aka Auntie Edith] claimed a spot for picking moolks, and they respect it, it was called Daulths gn’moolks We used to row to these places.

MR: Berry picking: Old Town, Kiskosh: the entire village used to camp there to pick salmon berries, dry fish, pick moolks, th’lya (high bush cranberry) in the fall. Rivers we picked and fished; Quaal and Ka’at . . .

9.3 K’K’A’AT (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE, KITKIATA RIVER AND KITKIATA INLET) HOUSE OF ‘WAHMOODEML /HOUSE OF NISMUULX (GISPWUDWADA)

9.3.1 TERRITORY: K’K’A’AT, PLACE OF CANE (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) OWNED BY ‘WAXMOON [‘WAHMOODEML] AND NISMUULX, GISPWUDWADA the main village of the tribe was at the mouth and they all took salmon from the river61

TL: Laxgalts’ap . . that was their first village, then they moved down to Gitk’a’ata, where Gitk’a’ata is now. But this was our first village so they always come back to here.

9.3.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN K’K’A’AT TERRITORY Laxt’aamk’a’at (On Lake Cane) (2, Kitkiata Lake, at Old Town, 137)

Halilumootk (On Top Where Save) (3, a mountain up above Old Town, 18)

Widaxduulxk (5, Maple Point, on Kitkiata Creek in Old Town, 181)

K’ala K’a’at (9, Kitkiata Creek in Old Town 26)

Gitk’a’ata (10, Old Hartley Bay, 13)

K’algan, K’algin (11, Kitkiata Inlet in Old Town, 31)

K’agwentks, Kagwenks (Place of Spring) (144, in Old Town, 22)

Wutsik’st’iiml, Wutsikstii’ml (145, near Gertrude Point in Old Town, 195)

Wiuuskgu’aks, Wil’uusga’aks (Where the Water Smells) (146, in old town near Helen Point, 193)

Wlk’isasoo, Wilgisasoo (147, Helen Point, in Old Town, 184)

K’unlublax (148, in Kikiata Inlet, 98)

Tsmaloop (Into Stones) (149, in Kikiata Inlet, 166)

K’aldaks (150, in Kikiata Inlet, 29)

K’lax’aus (Where On Sand) (151, in Kikiata Inlet, where the rivers come together, where the tides meet, 48)

T’otsupm’yaan, Tootsupm’yaan (Fortress ?) (152, in Kikiata Inlet, 165)

Ksugwutguniikws (Owl Creek) (153, in Kikiata Inlet, 82)

Ksumask (154, in Kikiata Inlet, 83)

Tsmxa’asdaa (155, in Kikiata Inlet, 168)

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K’alahahaitk (Going Upstream (bucking the current)) (156, in Kikiata Inlet, humpbacks, coho, 25)

‘Uksgwutguniikws, T’uksgwutguniikws (Looks Out to Sea Owl) (157, in Kikiata Inlet, 179)

T’ukslaxkyoox (158, in Kikiata Inlet, a point, 173)

‘Uksmaxsgulgalgaltsax (159, in Kikiata Inlet, 177)

Wilu’ndu’wada’aks, Winduwada’aks (160, in Kikiata Inlet, where rivers meet in Quaal system, where tides meet 189)

Ganusgiik (161, Eagle Trap, in Kikiata Inlet, 6, 204)

Sulala, Si’alaeo, K ts’m ‘alaeo (Where Into Trout) (162, in Kikiata Inlet, pool in the Kitkiata river in old town 163)

T’uksk’o’pin, Uksk’o’opn (Adam’s Apple) (163, in Kikiata Inlet, point 172)

IE: Fish: in the summer . . . Old Town

AR: Old Town – salmon in the fall- coho – two rivers

AR: [About 50 years ago] there were two big smokehouses in Old Town. There was a spot for each family group

AR: There were 3 canoes in Old Town

AR: Ksugwutguniikws – when you go there to get water - hear owls, it sounds like it’s from there

AR: T’uksk’o’pin – stump there looks like adam’s apple, in the fall, a net was tied to the stump and then dragged back to the village

AR: Halilumootk – highest mountain – went there during flood

HC: After travelling around in the summer . . .we’d have to go down to Old Town or out to Aristable or Union Pass to gather fish and seals, deer.

TL: In the fall, in September. We go towards the end of August we’d go up to Old Town, what we called Laxgalts’ap, and there they would do their fishing and we would smoke it, it would be half smoked, it would be really smoked dry, and then we would do what we call our woks, I guess they call them fish strips. We would have those. This is one place where we went because of the river there that we get a lot of fish and be able to process a lot. It used to be each household, each family . . . used to have about 1000 pieces of fish, that would take them through to the next year. The same way with our cockles and our clams. We basically lived out of the sea. And hunting. The other thing that we ate a lot of was moose meat... not moose meat, sorry, deer meat. It wasn’t until the early ... I can’t remember what year it was that moose finally came into Laxgalts’ap. But we ate a lot of deer, a lot of ducks.

MR: They go for clams and cockles this time of year [April]. . . up Old Town

MR: Clams & Cockles: around January when they pick clams, everybody went together on boats. . . . cockles and clams . . Old Town.

TL: Laxgalts’ap again was another one where we used to get our medicinal plants that you harvested at the end of August and early September, in the back of Old Town. Just in the back of the village . . . just in behind the houses. And there’s a lake that they used to use a lot. They used to get unł, lily pads, I guess. Lily pad is what they were, one of the medicinal plants that was used. They used to go there because the water is clear, the water’s good, there’s no humans around it, so they’d be able to harvest it out of there . . .The roots, and they used the pads, the lily pads.

Haas, fireweed . . .you split it up, and the inside is really mushy. But it’s really cool. You use that if you’re thirsty out in the bush and there’s no water around . . . You open it up and you take the inside out and you put it in your mouth and it really quenches your thirst . . . it was so far out of the way because you could harvest around here and not worry about anything. I remember going up there and picking p’iins [Indian celery]. Our people used to do what they call a flush three times a year to cleanse your system. In the spring time that’s when they used all the new growth that was coming out.

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And Old Town was another place where they would harvest moolks . . I guess they call them crabapples. This is where they harvest them lots. That’s the only place you can get them, in old town.

Indian Rice would be another one.. they used to go up behind Hartley Bay, the swampy area. That’s where they would pick the rice. And along the rivers. Anywhere where there’s a river, here in Old Town and in K’yel, that’s where they used to get wooms. Devil’s club. It had to be along a river.

Laxgalts’ap was another place where they used to get steti [nettles] It’s so far out.. people are not around, so they can harvest all they want. But they would never harvest it so bad that that it would never come back again. [Old Town} where they used to harvest.. used to eat a lot of the p’iins as well, as well as oył, the new shoots of the salmon berries. We used to eat a lot of that. They used to pick it and peel it off, chop it up if you wanted to and mix it with grease and a little bit of sugar. But the young people, by the time my age came, they would just dip it in sugar and eat.

TL: The same thing with beaver. We’d harvest beaver as well. Those you’d get out of the ponds, up in the lakes. Up behind Laxgalts’ap there’s a place there.

TL: Laxgalts’ap again was another one where we used to get our medicinal plants that you harvested at the end of August and early September, in the back of Old Town.

HR et al: Oldtown - seaweed, halibut, salmon

TL : Old Town was another place where they would harvest moolks . . crabapples. This is where they harvest them lots. That’s the only place you can get them, in old town. There’s different roots and what not. Aa [fern root] They look like, I don’t know what you would call them, but . . . their root looks like a cluster of tiny little bananas . . . Anywhere where there’s a river. Here in Old Town . . . that’s where they used to get wooms. Devil’s club. It had to be along a river.

MR: No-oh used to gather her bark down K’yel, up above where the camp is now. They also got it here in Hartley Bay.

AR: There used to be a lot of bear in Old Town. They salted bear meat there.

AR: Went to Old Town to dry fish, when a school of fish came into Laxgalts’ap at night it sounded like a landslide.

9.3.3 FISH TRAPS ON K’K’A’AT TERRITORY HR et al: [Fish traps] Lax guljap [Laxgalts’ap]

AR: had big fish trap in front of Old Town

9.3.4 PETROGLYPHS ON K’K’A’AT TERRITORY SR: Petroglyphs, I’ve seen the ones up Old Town

9.3.5 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON K’K’A’AT TERRITORY K’alahahaitk In 1938, Phillip Drucker was told that it (Qalahaituk) “was used regularly as a fishing station and as a refuge in time of war (being protected by the numerous bars too shoal after half tide for a war canoe).” The ten houses that once stood there were all collapsed by 1938. The site itself was said to have been used up until 1862 when the Gitk’a’ata left for Metlakatla. The houses were all rather square and about the same size. The remains of House no. 1 indicated it was approximately 38 feet square. Drucker concluded from the chips found in a pocket of wood-working debris that House no. 1 was made with iron tools placing its construction no earlier than the late 1700s. However, the archaeological work was not sufficiently extensive to conclude the same dates for the other houses or to preclude earlier construction elsewhere on the site. 62

9.3.6 RESERVES ON K’K’A’AT TERRITORY IR 1 K’ka’at

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IR 2 IR 3 & 3a K’waal

9.4 K’TULHON (SW HAWKESBURY ISLAND) HOUSE OF TXATKWATK/HOUSE OF HUHUULK (LAXSKIIK)

9.4.1 TERRITORY: K’TULHON (WHERE SALMON FIRST APPEAR) HAWKESBURY ISLAND, SW SIDE OWNED BY TXATKWATK & HUHUULK, LAXSKIIK63

9.4.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN K’TULHON TERRITORY Gisiwulwal, Gisiwulwil (15, Douglas Channel, 12)

Ksgyatsmk’tulhoon (From Where See K’tulhoon) (17, on Hawkesbury Island south of K’tulhoon and NE of Kishkosh Inlet, 80)

Maxlakswii (143, Sue Channel, between Hawkesbury Island and Maitland Island, 154)

HC: And they would get planks up towards Ktil Hoon. They would carve the planks, pull the planks right out of the living tree.

HC: [re permission to use territory] Even berries. Put that in there for example. They were used like a dowery. Like if you got married to my auntie, the tribe would give you before marrying her, they would give you the [right to use] berry bushes along the lake, a certain lake. To pick that . . . berries, the way Auntie Goolie talked about the one at Dilahoon too, across from Old Town, about the berries ... across the channel. There’s two. Dilahoon and little Dilahoon. [ktül hoon / Tilhorn].

AR: at southern point of Hawkesbury Island, Verney Passage, all types of salmon

9.4.3 TRAPLINES IN K’TULHON TERRITORY MR: Trapping: Simon has traplines at Kishkosh and at Gilhawn, across Old Town. Everyone had their own traplines, and some would trap together. They would go out for long periods of time, and they’d come home and prepare them at home. They trapped all the time. They sold the fur.

9.4.4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN K’TULHON TERRITORY The fifty CMTs identified in both surveys (June 1996 and October 17, 1999) inidicate the Little Tilhorne River site was an important source area for yellow cedar wood as well as bark. Preliminary observations suggest the site may have been utilized at or near maximum sustainable levels for bark and wood production in relation to natural yellow cedar replacement. The hypothesis that this was the case can be tested by further research. The area of intersection of the Heritage Game Trail and yellow cedar extraction site should be considered to have high archaeological potential. The entire site forms an excellent study area for ongoing Gitga’at CMT research and cultural heritage research, and should be considered a living museum.64

9.5 K’WIITS’M’AAX (SW HAWKESBURY ISLAND) HOUSE OF TXATKWATK/HOUSE OF HUHUULK (LAXSKIIK)

9.5.1 TERRITORY: K’WIITS’M’AAX (PLACE LARGE MOUTH) HAWKESBURY ISLAND, SW SIDE OWNED BY TXATKWATK & HUHUULK, LAXSKIIK where there is a waterfall65

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9.6 KSUWII (NW HAWKESBURY ISLAND) HOUSE OF ‘WIINEMOOLK/ HOUSE OF NISNAM’O/HOUSE OF TS’UXKA/HOUSE OF ‘WIIHAYWAAXS/HOUSE OF NISYAGAS/HOUSE OF T’MGAWS (GANHADA)

9.6.1 TERRITORY: KSUWII HAWKESBURY ISLAND, NW SIDE OWNED BY ‘WIINEMOOLK, NISNAM’O, TS’UXKA, ‘WIIHAYWAAXS, NISYAGAS, T’MGAWS, GANEDA hunting and fruit gathering66

9.7 K’NISIWULWAL (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) HOUSE OF TXATKWATK/HOUSE OF HUHUULK (LAXSKIIK)

9.7.1 TERRITORY: K’NISIWULWAL, PLACE OF DROPPING WATER (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) OWNED BY TXATKWATK AND HUHUULK, LAXSKIIK hunting and berry picking67

9.7.2 USE AREAS AND SITES IN K’NISIWULWAL TERRITORY Gisiwulwal, Gisiwulwil (15, Douglas Channel, 12)

9.8 K’TISKOS (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) HOUSE OF ‘WAHMOODEML/HOUSE OF NISMUULX (GISPWUDWADA)

9.8.1 TERRITORY: K’TISKOS, PLACE OF REFUGE (DOUGLAS CHANNEL, WEST SIDE) OWNED BY ‘WAXMOON [‘WAHMOODEML] AND NISMUULX, GISPWUDWADA used exclusively by Waxmoon for salmon fishing, hunting, and berries part of this territory was given to the Laxskiik [K’nisiwulwal]68

9.8.2 AREA AND SITE NAMES IN K’TISKOS TERRITORY K’uumlgan, Ku’uumlgan (12, end of Kishkosh Inlet, 102)

Duboigit (13, upper end of Kishkosh Inlet, 5)

K’disgos (Skipped a Bay) (14, Kishkosh Inlet, on Douglas Channel, 38)

Alugalts’ap (Place Where the Village Appears) (16, at mouth of Kishkosh Inlet, 2)

K’nubaa, Nabaa (Place Where Run) (18, a place on Douglas Channel, four or five miles below Old Town, there are steep cliffs there, used in warrior training, running uphill and tumbling down to water, 64)

EB: Alugalts’ap means Village in plain view, you can see it right away, went there for drying fish, Kiskosh Inlet

HC: “It’s called Kishkosh . . .. for a reason. It’s really k’disgos, the way you pronounce it. It’s because they lived in Old Town, and now they live in Hartley Bay. They skipped a bay. That’s what it means. Skipped a bay.

SR: For medicines . . . other times we went to Kishkosh.

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MR: Around January when they pick clams, everybody went together on boats. . . They used to sell clams, we went all over. . . for cockles and clams . . .Kiskosh, . . . They used to dry the cockles.

MR: They go for clams and cockles this time of year [April] . . . Kishkosh.

AR: Cockles, harvested on big tides

HC: Kishkosh, for our cockles and clams, crab...

SR: There used to be a cabin in Kishkosh. I remember when I was little, used to see people packing there cockles, clams.. well cockles up there. We’d be coming home and they’d be staying in the house. See the gas light going on.

SR: For Kishkosh, we also depended for Kishkosh for coho in this river, pinkies in this river [in the lagoon] trolling in the mouth there, and prawns. Our cockle beds are all there. And crabs through the whole thing. When I was young I thought to go trolling in Kishkosh you just go by the mouth and troll. I didn’t know you could troll inside there cause it’s deep. You get prawns in there too.

SR: And then, the same with in Kishkosh. There’s two, three rivers that have that aaya there. A lot of people picked it . . . See like Kishkosh there’s a river here, there’s an island there. There’s berries on that island here. There’s berries up here, like... in the lagoon, over on this side... There’s two rivers in the lagoon up top there. This side they used to pick waakyil berry [grey gooseberry] and łaaya [highbush cranberries]. This side was more blueberry. The whole bank this side was blueberry . . . it used to be really good for pigeon berry, we call it k’apk’oop.

SR: There’s also a rock in there [Kishkosh] they call labn. That belongs to Killerwhale. You’re guaranteed to get a seal whenever you walk in there.

TL: My brother, when he had his boat, he used to go up to . . .Kiskosh to go there and harvest crabs. And you could tell the difference . . . everybody tells me I’m crazy... but I could tell the difference between the crabs you get down there and the crabs you get around here. They just taste different. We [...] were taught that we go far away from where people live to do our harvesting. We don’t harvest close by where people live. And the crabs that he gets down there were beautiful, very tasty, very nice, and it’s quite deep where they used to go.

9.8.3 TRAPLINES IN K’TISKOS TERRITORY MR: Simon has traplines at Kishkosh . . . . Everyone had their own traplines, and some would trap together. They would go out for long periods of time, and they’d come home and prepare them at home. They trapped all the time.

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FIGURE 5: K’WAAL, K’K’A’AT, KT’ULHON, KSUWII, K’NISIWULWAL, AND K’TISKOS TERRITORIES

FIGURE 6 (BELOW): GITK’A’ATA TERRITORIES SHOWING ECONOMIC REGIONS SUGGESTED BY CURRENT DATA circles – regional area large squares – archaeological and other data suggesting habitation site

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10. CONCLUSION

The Gitk’a’ata lineages own their territories within the legal system of the Tsimshian and neighbouring nations. They have a record of their history and the history of their relationship to their territories. They have a record of the many names of the areas and sites within their territories. They have defended their territories and continue to do so.

The Gitk’a’ata have an unbroken and extensive economic relationship to their territories. While their economy has changed over time, the defining role of the three territorial regions has remained a constant. In the beginning individual lineages were supported almost entirely by their own territories. Later groups of lineages of more than one clan joined each other during part of the year in a central village in one of the three regions and presumably shared and traded mostly amongst themselves. Finally, the economy became more integrated with most of the lineages moving seasonally to each of the regions, sharing a winter village and trading extensively with neigbouring nations.

The Gitk’a’ata territories are extraordinarily rich in marine life, and the Gitk’a’ata economy is first and foremost and in all periods a marine economy, with seafood, seaweed, marine mammals, salmon, halibut and other fish species, all harvested from the open ocean, inlets, channels, river mouths and shorelines. Even hunting and trapping for land mammals takes place in many cases on the beach or in the forest close to the shoreline. Bark stripping and other forms of tree harvesting, berry picking, and the gathering of medicinal and edible plants are among the few economic activities that take place in the forest or the bush. Firewood is gathered from the beach.

The importance of the three regions within the Gitk’a’ata territories highlights the fact that the Gitk’a’ata economy is an extension of existing eco-systems and arises from the Gitk’a’ata’s ability to know and understand this ecology and to develop technologies and systems that allow them to adapt and sustain it throughout history.

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