Tribal Boundaries in the Nass Watershed

349 Pages·1998·29.042 MB·English

by  Susan Marsden, Peter R. Grant, Robert Galois, Richard Overstall, Neil J. Sterritt

Tribal Boundaries in the
Nass Watershed
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Neil /. Sterritt, Susan Marsden,
Robert Galois, Peter R. Grant, and
Richard Overstall
Tribal Boundaries in the
Nass Watershed
UBCPress / Vancouver
© UBC Press 1998
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior
written permission of the publisher, or, in Canada, in the case of photocopying
or other reprographic copying, a licence from CANCOPY (Canadian Copyright
Licensing Agency), 900-6 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1H6.
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper oo
ISBN 0-7748-0660-5
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Tribal boundaries in the Nass Watershed
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7748-0660-5
1. Kitksan Indians - Claims. 2. Niska Indians - Claims.
3. Kitksan Indians - Land tenure. 4. Niska Indians - Land tenure.
5. Nass River Watershed (B.C.) - History. I. Sterritt, Neil J.
E78.B9T75 1998 332.2'089'9741 C98-910465-6
UBC Press gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support to its publishing pro-
gram from the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council,
and the Department of Canadian Heritage of the Government of Canada.
UBC Press
University of British Columbia
6344 Memorial Road
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
[phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.ubcpress.ubc.ca
To the Simgiiget yet with us - and to those departed:
awakened before fires were lit at dawn to be taught their
adaawk, they share in turn their own proud legacy in
the Nass watershed; their words and deeds inspire the
generations. Ever vigilant, they too have made their mark.
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Contents
Maps / ix
Acknowledgments / xi
Abbreviations / xiii
1 Introduction / 3
2 The Adaawk Record and Tribal Boundaries in the Nass Watershed / 15
3 The Gitksan Documentary Record: Gitanyow / 59
4 The Gitksan Documentary Record: Kuldo, Kisgaga'as, and Kispiox / 98
5 The Nisga'a Documentary Record / 132
6 Witnesses on the Land: The Euro-Canadian Record, 1832-1930 / 194
7 Conclusion / 243
8 Epilogue / 251
Appendices / 253
1 Statement of Vernon Marion, Tahltan President (7 April 1987) / 255
2 Nisga'a claim (NTC, 1979) / 258
3 Nisga'a-Tahltan map showing boundaries at joint signing (1977) / 259
4 Territories of the Gitksan and Carrier Indians (GCTC, 1977) / 260
5 Letter to Nisga'a Tribal Council (5 November 1986) / 261
6 Reaffirmation of Tahltan-Nisga'a tribal boundary (NTC, 1995) / 263
viii Contents
7 Traditional Nisga'a territory: Land question boundary map
(NTC, 1995) / 264
8 Gitanyow territory (Duff, 1959) / 265
9 Agenda, with correspondence and maps from Nisga'a Tribal Council
provided at Joint Nisga'a-Gitksan meeting (8 August 1986) / 266
Notes / 272
Glossary of Terms / 293
Glossary of Place Names / 295
Glossary of Chiefs' Names / 312
Bibliography / 315
Index / 319
Maps
1 Location map / 6
2 Nisga'a claims in Gitksan and Gitanyow territories in the Nass
watershed / 8
3 Nisga'a claim in the Nass watershed: Changes between 1915 and
1995 / 9
4 The original Northern Gitksan (period one) / 17
5 Tsetsaut migrations into Northern Gitksan territories and migration
from Temlaxam (period two) / 25
6 First war between Gitanyow and the Tsetsaut / 32
7 Recent conflicts at the Gitksan northern border (period three) / 37
8 Gitanyow territorial map (from Shotridge photograph, 1918) / 66
9 Gitanyow territorial map (from Ditchburn blueprint, 1920) / 68
10a Michael Inspririg Bright map (GTO, 1995) / 70-1
lObMichael Inspring Bright's original hand-drawn map / 72
11 Map of William Gogak house territories (1915) / 78
12 Area encompassed by Gitanyow ownership statements from 1910 to
the present / 81
13 Area encompassed by Abel Oakes statement (1920) / 102
14 Gitksan ownership statements (Kispiox-Kuldo-Kisgaga'as) to Marius
Barbeau (c. 1920) / 103
15 Kispiox land claim (1924) / 107
16 Jonathan Johnson-Wilson Duff map (1965) / 110
17 Gitksan territories (Kispiox-Kuldo-Kisgaga'as) in the Nass watershed
(1995) / 114
18 Nishga land claim area: Exhibit 2 (Calder v. Attorney General of BC,
1969) / 142
19 Nisga'a Petition of 1913 (as interpreted by NTC, 1986) / 143
20 Aiyansh and Gitanyow hunting grounds showing Nisga'a-Gitanyow
border (E.N. Mercer, 1916) / 150
21 Nisga'a Territory: Peter Nisyok map (MMRC, 1915) / 154