Nisga'a Memorial Lava Beds Provincial Park
Encyclopedia
Nisga'a language
Nisga’a is a Tsimshianic language of the Nisga'a people of northwestern British Columbia. Nisga'a people, however, do not like the term Tshimshianic as they feel that it gives precedence to Coast Tsimshian. Nisga’a is very closely related to Gitksan...
: Anhluut'ukwsim Laxmihl Angwinga'asankswhl Nisga'a) is a provincial park
Provincial park
A provincial park is a park under the management of a provincial or territorial government in Canada.While provincial parks are not the same as national parks, their workings are very similar...
in the Nass River
Nass River
The Nass River is a river in northern British Columbia, Canada. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Nass Bay, a sidewater of Portland Inlet, which connects to the North Pacific Ocean via the Dixon Entrance...
valley in northwestern 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...
, Canada
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...
, about 80 kilometres north of Terrace
Terrace, British Columbia
Terrace is a city on the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada. The Kitselas people, a tribe of the Tsimshian Nation, have lived in the Terrace area for thousands of years. The community population fell between 2001 and 2006 from 12,109 with a regional population of 19,980 to 11,320 and...
, and near the Nisga'a Villages of Gitlakdamix
Gitlakdamix, British Columbia
Gitlakdamix or Gitlaxt'aamiks or New Aiyansh is a Nisga'a Village about 100km north of Terrace, in the heart of the Nass River valley, Canada. It is one of four Nisga'a villages...
and Gitwinksihlkw
Gitwinksihlkw, British Columbia
Gitwinksihlkw , formerly Canyon City, is a Nisga'a Village in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia, Canada, near that river's confluence with the Tseax River. An older spelling is Kitwilluchsilt. It is one of four Nisga'a villages...
.
The park was established by Order in Council on April 29, 1992, expanded in 1995, included in the Nisga'a Treaty in 2000, and is the first park in the province to be jointly managed by the government and a First Nation. An interpretive centre in a traditional Nisga'a longhouse
Native American long house
Longhouses were built by native peoples in various parts of North America, sometimes reaching over but generally around wide. The dominant theory is that walls were made of sharpened and fire-hardened poles driven into the ground and the roof consisted of leaves and grass...
informs visitors about the Nisga'a legend that accounts for the lava as well as geological causes.
The park has waterfalls, pools, cinder cones, tree moulds
Mold
Molds are fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. Molds are not considered to be microbes but microscopic fungi that grow as single cells called yeasts...
, lava tubes, spatter cones, a lava-dammed lake
Lava Lake
Lava Lake is a lava dammed lake located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The lake lies within the Nisga'a Memorial Lava Beds Provincial Park, which includes fishing, hiking and other features.-Formation:...
, caves and other features created by lava flows. The parks aims to protect moose, goats, marmots, bears and many other species of wildlife.
The park covers 178.93 square kilometres in area.
Volcanic eruption
It is believed to be the site of Canada's most recent volcanic eruption and lava flow, a geological disaster that killed an estimated 2,000 people. Nisga'a oral histories record the names of two villages destroyed in the eruption, Wii Lax K'abit and Lax Ksiluux.The source of the eruption was the Tseax Cone
Tseax Cone
The Tseax Cone , also called the Tseax River Cone or alternately the Aiyansh Volcano, is a young cinder cone and adjacent lava flows associated with the Nass Ranges and the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province...
. Large lava flows
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
med the Nass River
Nass River
The Nass River is a river in northern British Columbia, Canada. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Nass Bay, a sidewater of Portland Inlet, which connects to the North Pacific Ocean via the Dixon Entrance...
and destroyed two villages of the Nisga'a
Nisga'a
The Nisga’a , often formerly spelled Nishga and spelled in the Nisga’a language as Nisga’a, are an Indigenous nation or First Nation in Canada. They live in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. Their name comes from a combination of two Nisga’a words: Nisk’-"top lip" and...
people around the years 1750 or 1775. Lava beds rise as much as 12 metres above the modern road.
External links
See also
- Nisga'a Lisims