# Kitselas

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This article is about the people. For the location, see [Kitselas, British Columbia](/source/Kitselas,_British_Columbia). For their band government, see [Kitselas First Nation](/source/Kitselas_First_Nation).

**Kitselas** (tsi: *Gitselasu*[1]) are one of the 14 [tribes](/source/Tribe) of the [Tsimshian](/source/Tsimshian) nation of [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), in northwestern [Canada](/source/Canada). The original name *Gits'ilaasü* means "people of the canyon." The tribe is situated at [Kitselas, British Columbia](/source/Kitselas,_British_Columbia), at the upper end of [Kitselas Canyon](/source/Kitselas_Canyon), which is on the [Skeena River](/source/Skeena_River). It was once a great trading nexus, just outside and upriver from the city of [Terrace](/source/Terrace,_British_Columbia). It is the most upriver of the 14 tribes and it borders the territory of the [Gitxsan](/source/Gitxsan) nation.

## Location

Today, the Kitselas people live mostly at two Indian reserves; one, at the Kulspai or Queensway reserve ("New Town"), is just across the river from Terrace. More recently, Kitselas people have begun to repopulate a more traditional and remote site on a bluff overlooking the Canyon, at Gitaus reserve (*Git'aws* meaning "people of the sand"). Gitaus is gradually becoming the centre of Kitselas life.

From the 1870s until the 1960s, many Kitselas and [Kitsumkalum](/source/Kitsumkalum) Tsimshians lived at the [cannery](/source/Cannery) town of [Port Essington](/source/Port_Essington,_British_Columbia), farther down the Skeena River (now a ghost town), at the confluence of the [Ecstall](/source/Ecstall_River) and Skeena rivers.

## Governance

Until its dissolution in 2005, the [Tsimshian Tribal Council](/source/Tsimshian_Tribal_Council) represented Kitselas in treaty negotiations with the provincial and federal governments. Its [band government](/source/Band_government) is the [Kitselas First Nation](/source/Kitselas_First_Nation).

[William Beynon](/source/William_Beynon) and the [anthropologist](/source/Anthropologist) [Marius Barbeau](/source/Marius_Barbeau) recorded traditional information from Kitselas people at [Port Essington, B.C.](/source/Port_Essington,_British_Columbia), in 1924, including Chief [Walter Wright](/source/Walter_Wright_(oral_historian)) and Chief Samuel Wise, who held the Kitselas [Laxsgiik](/source/Laxsgiik) (Eagle-clan) name Gitxon.

Following are the house-groups (matrilineal extended families) of the Kitselas:

- House of Gagawtsgan -- [Laxsgiik](/source/Laxsgiik) (Eagle clan)
- House of Gitxon—Laxsgiik (Eagle clan)
- House of Iyuu's -- Laxsgiik (Eagle clan)
- House of G'wam -- [Ganhada](/source/Ganhada) (Raven clan)
- House of Niis'hawas -- [Gispwudwada](/source/Gispwudwada) (Killerwhale clan)
- House of Niis'nagwalk—Laxsgiik (Eagle clan)
- House of Lax'Stell—LaxGibu (Wolf clan)
- House of Niis'taxo'ok—Gispwudwada (Killerwhale clan)
- House of Sats'an—Ganhada (Raven clan)
- House of Niis'Gitlope—Laxgiik (Eagle clan)
- House of Stee How—LaxGibu (Wolf clan)

Detailed narratives were also recorded from Chief [Walter Wright](/source/Walter_Wright_(oral_historian)) (Niistaxo'ok) in the 1930s and collected in a volume called *Men of Medeek.*

## See also

- [Kitselas First Nation](/source/Kitselas_First_Nation)
- [Kitselas Canyon](/source/Kitselas_Canyon)

## References

1. ["About Kitselas"](https://kitselas.com/about/). *[Kitselas First Nation](/source/Kitselas_First_Nation)*. Retrieved 2025-01-15.

- Barbeau, Marius (1950) *Totem Poles.* 2 vols. (Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada.
- Berthiaume, Rocque (1999) *The Gitselasu: The People of Kitselas Canyon.* Terrace, B.C.: First Nations Education Centre, School District 82 (Coast Mountains).
- Coupland, Gary (1988) *Prehistoric Cultural Change at Kitselas Canyon.* Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization.
- Haldane, Agnes, et al. (1992) *Conflict at Gits'ilaasü.* (Suwilaay'msga Na Ga'niiyatgm, Teachings of Our Grandfathers, vol. 6.) Prince Rupert, B.C.: School District No. 52.
- Marsden, Susan (ed.) (1992) *Na Amwaaltga Ts'msiyeen: The Tsimshian, Trade, and the Northwest Coast Economy.* (Suwilaay'msga Na Ga'niiyatgm, Teachings of Our Grandfathers, vol. 1.) Prince Rupert, B.C.: School District No. 52.
- McDonald, James A. (2003) People of the Robin: The Tsimshian of Kitsumkalum. CCI Press.
- Robinson, Will (1962) *Men of Medeek.* As told by Walter Wright. Kitimat, B.C.: Northern Sentinel Press

## External links

- [Kitselas First Nation website](https://web.archive.org/web/20081202124351/http://www.kitselas.bc.ca/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kitselas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitselas) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitselas?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.