Gitga'ata
Encyclopedia
The Gitga'ata are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian
nation in British Columbia
, Canada, and inhabit the village of Hartley Bay, British Columbia, the name of which in the Tsimshian language is Txałgiu. The name Gitga'ata in the Tsimshian language means "people of the cane" (as in, a ceremonial stick). The Gitga'ata, along with the Kitasoo
Tsimshians at Klemtu, B.C., are often classed as "Southern Tsimshian," their traditional language being the southern dialect of the Tsimshian language. Most Tsimshian-speakers in Hartley Bay today, however, speak the form of the language shared by villages to the north. Their band government is the Hartley Bay Indian Band
, aka the Gitga'at First Nation.
In 1947, Edmund Patalas ("belonging to the Kitamat tribe at Hartley Bay") described to the Tsimshian ethnologist William Beynon
the origins of the Laxsgiik
(Eagle clan) people of the "Gitxon" group who migrated from the land of the Haida people on Haida Gwaii first to Kitamaat and then to the Gitga'ata people, where a branch of this group, the House of Sinaxeet, is now considered "the royal Eagle house of Kitkata" (described in Barbeau's Totem Poles).
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 in 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, and inhabit the village of Hartley Bay, British Columbia, the name of which in the Tsimshian language is Txałgiu. The name Gitga'ata in the Tsimshian language means "people of the cane" (as in, a ceremonial stick). The Gitga'ata, along with the Kitasoo
Kitasoo
The Kitasoo are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian people in Canada, who inhabit, along with Xai'xais people of Heiltsuk ethnic affiliation, the village of Klemtu, British Columbia. The name Kitasoo derives from the Tsimshian name Gidestsu, from git- and disdzuu, which refers to a large,...
Tsimshians at Klemtu, B.C., are often classed as "Southern Tsimshian," their traditional language being the southern dialect of the Tsimshian language. Most Tsimshian-speakers in Hartley Bay today, however, speak the form of the language shared by villages to the north. Their band government is the Hartley Bay Indian Band
Hartley Bay Indian Band
The Hartley Bay Indian Band, also known as the Hartley Bay First Nation, Hartley Bay Band, Gitga'at Nation and Gitga'at First Nation, is the band government of the Gitga'ata people of Hartley Bay, British Columbia, Canada....
, aka the Gitga'at First Nation.
In 1947, Edmund Patalas ("belonging to the Kitamat tribe at Hartley Bay") described to the Tsimshian ethnologist 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....
the origins of the Laxsgiik
Laxsgiik
The Laxsgiik is the name for the Eagle "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska...
(Eagle clan) people of the "Gitxon" group who migrated from the land of the Haida people on Haida Gwaii first to Kitamaat and then to the Gitga'ata people, where a branch of this group, the House of Sinaxeet, is now considered "the royal Eagle house of Kitkata" (described in Barbeau's Totem Poles).