Kitsumkalum

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Kitsumkalum is one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and is also the name of their Indian Reserve just west of the city of Terrace, British Columbia, where the Kitsumkalum River flows into the Skeena River. Traditional Kitsumkalum territory encompassed the Kitsumkalum River watershed, though Kitsumkalum also claims the adjacent Zimacord River watershed, which is traditionally the territory of the Gitlaan Tsimshians.

The name Kitsumkalum, originally Gitsmgeelm, derives from the Tsimshian git- (people of) and -geelm, referring to riffles formed by shallow water running over rocks in the Kitsumkalum River.

The following house-groups (extended matrilineal families) make up the Kitsumkalum tribe, according to McDonald (see bibliography):

House of Ligiudziiws -- Ganhada (Raven clan) (currently headed by Laura Talbot)
House of Łagaax & 'Wiidildal -- Gispwudwada (Killerwhale clan) (currently headed by Alex Bolton)
House of Niisgankwadzeks -- Laxsgiik (Eagle clan)
House of Niisgeel -- Laxsgiik (Eagle clan)
House of Wudiwiye & Wüneeymhapiskw -- Laxgibuu (Wolf clan) (currently headed by family of Vera Henry)
House of Xpilaxha -- Ganhada (Raven clan) (currently headed by Gerald Wesley)

Of these, the House of Nisgeel represents the first human inhabitants of the Kitsumkalum valley, under the leadership of Nisgeel, according to an oral history (adawx) belonging to this house.

Traditionally, the main Kitsumkalum village was situated at Dałk Gyilakyaw or "Robin Town," at the Canyon of the Kitsumkalum River. This site has not been occupied since the 1930s. Another village, home of the Ganhada and Laxgibuu, was Gitxondakł, situated between the Canyon and Kalum Lake. Modern Kitsumkalum village, a third site, is right on Highway 16 where the Kitsumkalum River flows into the Skeena. The population of the community in 1983 was 74.

McDonald also lists the following house-groups from other Tsimshian tribes whose members are associated with the Kitsumkalum community:

House of Gitxon/Nisgitloop -- Kitselas tribe
House of Niiskiimas -- Giluts'aaw tribe of Lax Kw'alaams
House of Niishaywaaxs -- Kitselas tribe
House of Spooxs -- Gispaxlo'ots tribe of Lax Kw'alaams

From the 1870s until the 1960s, many Kitsumkalum and Kitselas Tsimshians lived at the cannery town of Port Essington, farther down the Skeena River (now a ghost town), at the confluence of the Ecstall and Skeena Rivers.

A significant event in the modern revival of traditional culture at Kitsumkalum was the "Su-Sit'aatk" double totem pole raising feast of 1987. The poles were carved by the Haida carver Freda Diesing, with the assistance of a team from Kitsumkalum, including Dorothy Horner, Myrtle Laidlaw, Sandra Wesley, Norman Horner, and Norman Guno.

[edit] Bibliography

Inglis, Gordon B., et al. (1990) "Tsimshians of British Columbia since 1900." In Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 7: Northwest Coast, pp. 285-293. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.

McDonald, James A. (1983) "An Historic Event in the Political Economy of the Tsimshian: Information on the Ownership of the Zimacord District." B.C. Studies, no. 57, pp. 24-37.