Kitkatla
Encyclopedia
The Kitkatla are one of the 14 bands of the Tsimshian
nation of the Canadian
province
of British Columbia
, and inhabit a village, also called Kitkatla
(sometimes called Laxklan), on Dolphin Island, a small island just by Porcher Island
off the coast of northern B.C. Because of this they have sometimes been called Porcher Island Indians. They were also, in the early contact period, called the Sebassa tribe, for their paramount chief at the time, Ts'ibasaa. The name Kitkatla derives from the Tsimshian name Gitkxaała, from git- (people of) and kxaała (open sea), since they are the farthest from the mainland of the Tsimshian tribes.
The Kitkatla are reputed to be the first Tsimshians to encounter (formally anyway) Europeans and the first to use guns. Stories recording this encounter tell of the acquisition of the hereditary name He'l by the Gispwudwada
(Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) House (extended matrilineal family) of Ts'ibasaa, from an English ship's captain named Hale.
In the more recent period, one holder of the name He'l also assumed rights over the Gispwudwada chief name Seeks, which represents another Kitkatla house-group.
One holder of the title Ts'ibasaa was Joshua Ts'ibasaa, who died in 1936. The anthropologist Viola Garfield
has published a detailed description of his mortuary potlatch
.
Garfield also describes the House of Ts'ibasaa's genealogical merging with another Gispwudwada
(Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) house-group, the royal house of the Ginadoiks
tribe of Tsimshians at Lax Kw'alaams
(Port Simpson), B.C.
A large amount of information on the hereditary names, territories, and oral traditions of the Kitkatla people was collected in 1916 by William Beynon
, a Tsimshian chief and translator in the employ of the ethnologist Marius Barbeau
.
Today Kitkatla is a large and thriving community. Its population in 1983 was 493. It has temporarily suspended treaty negotiations with the British Columbia government.
Other Kitkatla house-groups include:
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...
nation of the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
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...
, and inhabit a village, also called Kitkatla
Kitkatla, British Columbia
Kitkatla is a small Tsimshian village situated approximately 45 km S.W. of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, on the north side of Dolphin Island. The village is accessible via Prince Rupert by regular float plane flights or by boat. It is home to the Kitkatla tribe of Tsimshians....
(sometimes called Laxklan), on Dolphin Island, a small island just by Porcher Island
Porcher Island
Porcher Island is an island in Hecate Strait, British Columbia, Canada, near the mouth of the Skeena River and southwest of the port city of Prince Rupert.- Geography :...
off the coast of northern B.C. Because of this they have sometimes been called Porcher Island Indians. They were also, in the early contact period, called the Sebassa tribe, for their paramount chief at the time, Ts'ibasaa. The name Kitkatla derives from the Tsimshian name Gitkxaała, from git- (people of) and kxaała (open sea), since they are the farthest from the mainland of the Tsimshian tribes.
The Kitkatla are reputed to be the first Tsimshians to encounter (formally anyway) Europeans and the first to use guns. Stories recording this encounter tell of the acquisition of the hereditary name He'l by the Gispwudwada
Gispwudwada
The Gispwudwada is the name for the Killerwhale "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to the Gisgahaast clan in British Columbia's Gitksan nation and the Gisk'ahaast/Gisk'aast Tribe of the Nisga'a...
(Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) House (extended matrilineal family) of Ts'ibasaa, from an English ship's captain named Hale.
In the more recent period, one holder of the name He'l also assumed rights over the Gispwudwada chief name Seeks, which represents another Kitkatla house-group.
One holder of the title Ts'ibasaa was Joshua Ts'ibasaa, who died in 1936. The anthropologist Viola Garfield
Viola Garfield
Viola E. Garfield was an American anthropologist best known for her work on the social organization and plastic arts of the Tsimshian nation in British Columbia and Alaska.-Early life:...
has published a detailed description of his mortuary potlatch
Potlatch
A potlatch is a gift-giving festival and primary economic system practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and United States. This includes Heiltsuk Nation, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish cultures...
.
Garfield also describes the House of Ts'ibasaa's genealogical merging with another Gispwudwada
Gispwudwada
The Gispwudwada is the name for the Killerwhale "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to the Gisgahaast clan in British Columbia's Gitksan nation and the Gisk'ahaast/Gisk'aast Tribe of the Nisga'a...
(Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) house-group, the royal house of the Ginadoiks
Ginadoiks
The Ginadoiks are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian nation in British Columbia, Canada, and one of the nine of those tribes making up the "Nine Tribes" of the lower Skeena River resident at Lax Kw'alaams , B.C...
tribe of Tsimshians at Lax Kw'alaams
Lax Kw'alaams
Lax-Kw'alaams , usually called Port Simpson, is an Indigenous village community in British Columbia, Canada, not far from the city of Prince Rupert. It is the home of the "Nine Tribes" of the lower Skeena River, which are nine of the fourteen tribes of the Tsimshian nation...
(Port Simpson), B.C.
A large amount of information on the hereditary names, territories, and oral traditions of the Kitkatla people was collected in 1916 by William Beynon
William Beynon
William Beynon was a hereditary chief from the Tsimshian nation and an oral historian who served as ethnographer, translator, and linguistic consultant to many anthropologists....
, a Tsimshian chief and translator in the employ of the ethnologist Marius Barbeau
Marius Barbeau
Charles Marius Barbeau, , also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthropology...
.
Today Kitkatla is a large and thriving community. Its population in 1983 was 493. It has temporarily suspended treaty negotiations with the British Columbia government.
Other Kitkatla house-groups include:
- House of Dzagmgishaaytks -- GanhadaGanhadaThe Ganhada is the name for the Raven "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to the Ganada Tribe of the Nisga'a nation in British Columbia and the Frog clan among B.C.'s Gitxsan nation...
(Raven clan) - House of La'ooy -- Ganhada (Raven clan)
- House of Ligidiił -- Ganhada (Raven clan)
- House of Niismuulx -- GispwudwadaGispwudwadaThe Gispwudwada is the name for the Killerwhale "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to the Gisgahaast clan in British Columbia's Gitksan nation and the Gisk'ahaast/Gisk'aast Tribe of the Nisga'a...
(Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) - House of Ts'ibasaa -- GispwudwadaGispwudwadaThe Gispwudwada is the name for the Killerwhale "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to the Gisgahaast clan in British Columbia's Gitksan nation and the Gisk'ahaast/Gisk'aast Tribe of the Nisga'a...
(Blackfish or Killerwhale clan)
Prominent people of Kitkatla ancestry
- Edward Gamble, hereditary chief (Ts'ibasaa, He'l, Seeks)
- Russell Gamble, hereditary chief and basketball administrator (He'l)
- Charles Menzies, anthropologist
- Roy Henry VickersRoy Henry VickersThis page is about the Canadian artist, for the English mystery writer go to Roy VickersRoy Henry Vickers, CM, OBC is a Canadian First Nations artist...
, artist
Sources
- Barbeau, Marius (1950) Totem Poles. 2 vols. (Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada.
- Beynon, William (1987) "The Origin of the Name Hale." In: Tsimshian Narratives 2: Trade and Warfare, ed. by George F. MacDonald and John J. Cove, pp. 158-159. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Civilization.
- Brown, Dorothy (1992) Saaban: The Tsimshian and Europeans Meet. (Suwilaay'msga Na Ga'niiyatgm, Teachings of Our Grandfathers, vol. 3.) Prince Rupert, B.C.: First Nations Advisory Council of School District No. 52.
- Garfield, Viola E.Viola GarfieldViola E. Garfield was an American anthropologist best known for her work on the social organization and plastic arts of the Tsimshian nation in British Columbia and Alaska.-Early life:...
(1939) "Tsimshian Clan and Society." University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 167-340.
- Inglis, Gordon B., et al. (1990) "Tsimshians of British Columbia since 1900." In Handbook of North American IndiansHandbook of North American IndiansThe Handbook of North American Indians is a monographic series of edited scholarly and reference volumes in Americanist studies, published by the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1978. To date, fifteen volumes have been published...
, Volume 7: Northwest Coast, pp. 285-293. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.
- Miller, Jay (1997) Tsimshian Culture: A Light through the Ages. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
- Nowry, Laurence (1995) Marius Barbeau, Man of Mana: A Biography. Toronto: NC Press (pp. 165-168).