The Haisla Nation is a First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 government in the North Coast

North Coast

North Coast or Northcoast may refer to :Australia* North Coast , a regionCanada* "North Coast" in British Columbia means the northernmost region of the British Columbia Coast, primarily the communities of Prince Rupert, Terrace and Kitimat and surrounding areas** North Coast , an electoral district...

 region of the Canadian province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, centred on the reserve community

Indian reserve

In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...

 of Kitamaat Village, which is near the similarly named town of Kitimat

Kitimat, British Columbia

Kitimat is a coastal city in northwestern British Columbia, in the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine. The Kitimat Valley, which includes the adjacent community of Terrace, is the most populous urban district in Northwest British Columbia...

.
The Kitlope Valley is rich in natural resources, especially Salmon.

Ethnographic composition

The Haisla Nation includes two once-separate peoples, the Kitamaat and the Kitlope

Kitlope

Kitlope is a Tsimshian word meaning "people of the rocks" or "people from the opening in the mountains", a reference to a subgroup of the Haisla peoples. history shows that this village at one time...

. The Kitlope, also spelled Gitlope, means "people of the rocks" or "people from the opening in the mountains" in the Tsimshian language and was the term used for them by the neighbouring Tsimshian

Tsimshian

The Tsimshian are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Tsimshian translates to Inside the Skeena River. Their communities are in British Columbia and Alaska, around Terrace and Prince Rupert and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island. There are approximately 10,000...

 people. They call themselves Henaksiala, while the Tsimshian meaning of the name for the Kitamaat group – whose name for themselves is Haisla – means "people of the snow".

Despite their common names being in Tsimshian, the Haisla people speak the Haisla language

Haisla language

The Haisla language is a First Nations language spoken by the Haisla people of the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, who are based in the village of Kitaamat 10 km from the town of Kitimat at the head of the Douglas Channel, a 120 km fjord that serves as a...

, and were, like their language and along with the neighbouring Heiltsuk

Heiltsuk

The Heiltsuk are an Indigenous First Nations of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the island communities of Bella Bella and Klemtu. The government of the Heiltsuk people is the Heiltsuk Nation...

 and Wuikinuxv peoples, incorrectly known in the past as the "Northern Kwakiutl". The community is renowned for its delicious eulachon

Eulachon

The eulachon, also oolichan, hooligan, ooligan, or candlefish, is a small anadromous ocean fish, Thaleichthys pacificus, a smelt found along the Pacific coast of North America from northern California to Alaska....

 grease, and has produced many talented West Coast artists such as Derek Wilson, Hank Robertson, Lyle Wilson and Sammy Robinson. The Haisla Braves still hold the longest winning record in the All Native Basketball Tournament in Prince Rupert, B.C. from the 1970s.

Modern Haisla culture

Award winning fiction writer Eden Robinson

Eden Robinson

Eden Victoria Lena Robinson is a Canadian novelist and short story writer.Born in Kitamaat, British Columbia, she is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations...

 and her sister, CBC broadcaster Carla Robinson

Carla Robinson

Carla Robinson is a Canadian television journalist for CBC Newsworld.-Biography and education:Robinson was born in Kitimat...

 are part of the Haisla and Heiltsuk Nations.

The Haisla also made history with the return of the Gyp'sgolox Totem Pole in 2006, which was taken from their territory in 1929 and put into the Museum of Ethnography in Sweden

Museum of Ethnography, Sweden

The Museum of Ethnography , in Stockholm, Sweden, is a Swedish science museum. It houses a collection of about 220,000 items relating to the ethnography, or cultural anthropology, of peoples from around the world, including from China, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific region, the...

. Two National Film Board of Canada

National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...

 documentaries by Gil Cardinal

Gil Cardinal

Gil Cardinal is a Canadian filmmaker of Métis descent. Born in Edmonton in 1950, and placed in a foster home at the age of two, Cardinal only discovered his Métis roots while making his documentary Foster Child...

record the Haisla's efforts to reclaim the Gyp'sgolox pole, and its eventual return.

Kitamaat Village has a large recreation centre, health clinic, elementary school, seafood restaurant, firehall, dock, camp ground and soccer field.

Hereditary clans are Eagle, Beaver and Blackfish (Killerwhale)

Education and Culture

Cultural activities and education in the Haisla Nation include:

• Dancing
• Singing
• Language
• Hunting
• Fishing
• Trapping