Tag Archives: Ts’msyen Nation

Indigenous Nations

Lax Kw’alaams elected, hereditary leaders sign accord ahead of historic referendum

By Radha Agarwal, Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

Indicating a united front before the Lax Kw’alaams votes on its landmark constitution, the hereditary leaders of the Allied Ts’msyen Tribes and the Lax Kw’alaams elected council have officially signed a Governance Accord.

“Our Allied Tribes leaders have rightful authority, and we (the elected leadership) need to work closely together,” said Lax Kw’alaams mayor Garry Reece. 

Lax Kw’alaams consists of descendants from the Nine Tribes of the Ts’msyen, which include the Gitlaan, Gispaxlo’ots, Gilutz’aaẅ, Gitandoa, Gitnadoixs, Ginax’angiik, Gits’iis, Gitzaxłaał, and the Gitwilgyoots. It has approximately 4,150 members and is located on the northwest coast of British Columbia near Prince Rupert.

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Indigenous Nations History

Gits’iis Tribe calls for removal of totem poles outside Prince Rupert’s Civic Centre

By Radha Agarwal, Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Citing a history of cultural faux pas, the Gits’iis Tribe of the Ts’msyen Nation, whose ancestral lands encompass the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre site, is demanding the removal of the three totem poles outside it.

“These poles came [to Prince Rupert]. They had no business being here,” said Guu Gaa Jung (Symbia Barnaby).

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Indigenous Nations History

Precolonial Forest Gardens and Orchards

Dr Chelsey Geralda Armstrong is an associate professor from SFU and the lead author of a paper, about the ancient forest gardens in Nuu-chah-nulth territory, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. While individual species do grow in the wild, forest gardens and orchards exhibit a sophisticated understanding of cultivation and are found adjacent to ancient village sites. In a related study, Armstrong and her colleagues wrote that forest gardens largely disappeared around the time of the smallpox epidemic that swept through B.C’s Indigenous communities more than 150 years ago.

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Indigenous Nations

Human rights complaint filed against City of Terrace, mayor, councillor

Terrace Standard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Former Terrace Councillor Jessica McCallum-Miller has filed a human rights complaint against the city, mayor and a council member, nearly a year after resigning from her position citing systemic racism.

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Children, Indigenous languages

‘Raising Sm’algyax’: Tsimshian mothers reclaim the language through nursery rhymes for toddlers

Terrace Standard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dr. Mique’l Dangeli’s toddler, Hayetsk, is the first among two successive generations in his family to have Sm’algyax as his primary language. 

Dangeli jests that his maternal grandmother worries she might find it difficult to communicate with her grandson who knows more of the language than she ever has her whole life. 

“I tell her not to worry, Hayetsk will teach you,” said Dangeli whose battle to revive the dialect of the Tsimshian people is slowly materializing as a tiny army of toddlers begin to adopt it as a first language. 

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