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'Ksan is a cultural interpretive centre dedicated to demonstrating the richness of Gitxsan culture and heritage. The topic of this page is to provide a geographical description of Gitxsan territory. The organization of the description is organized into the following sub-headings: Regional DescriptionThe Gitxsan reside on the Pacific North Coast of North America. Anthropologists refer to this area as the Northwest Coast Cultural Area. This anthropological term, Northwest Coast, defines the relative cultural and societal similarities exhibited by the different First Nations groups of this region . The topic of this section is to provide a sketch of the larger geographical context of Gitxsan territory in the Upper Skeena River region of the Northern Northwest Coast Cultural Area. This sketch will present both the physical and cultural geography of the region. Northwest Coast Cultural AreaThe Northwest Coast Cultural Area is defined as existing from Yakutat Bay in Southeastern Alaska, along the British Columbia Coast, including the Queen Charlotte Islands and Vancouver Island, south along Washington and Oregon states coasts, and concluding in the northern tip of California . This large area is further divided into three sub-areas. These three sub-areas are the Northern Coast, Central Coast, and the Southern Coast . The Gitxsan live within the Northern Coast. The Northern
Coast is defined as existing from Yakutat Bay in Southeastern Alaska,
along the British Columbia Coast, including the Queen Charlotte
Islands, as far south as the northern tip of Vancouver Island on
the mainland . Within the Northern Coast the Coast Mountain Range
acts as a natural barrier separating the Northwest Coast from the
interior. Four major rivers penetrate this barrier, and they are
as follows: the Taku River, Stakine River, Nass River, and the Skeena
River. The Skeena is the largest of the four rivers with a watershed
exceeding 42,000 square kilometers. The Nass River, in comparison,
has a watershed of 21,150 square kilometers. Cultural DiversityThe Northwest Coast is the most linguistically diverse region in North America. Gitxsan TerritoryGitxsan traditional territories are generally defined as
existing within the watersheds of the north and central Skeena,
Nass, and Babine Rivers including their tributaries. This vast area
is estimated to be 22,000 square kilometers For a more precise
depiction of traditional Gitxsan territories refer to map
1 within the appendix. It is important to note, however, that this
map does not include territories owned by the village of Gitanyow.
Recently, Gitanyow has considered themselves distinct from the Gitxsan,
and, thus, have pursued their own resolutions to land title issues. Gitxsan VillagesGitxsan communities are located primarily on the Skeena River and its tributaries above Kitselas Canyon. Presently there are six Gitxsan communities: Gitwangak, Gitanyow, Gitsegukla, Gitanmaax, Kispiox, and Glen Vowell. The topic of this section is to present a description of these villages geographical position within the Upper Skeena River region. This presentation will be focus upon the relative position of each village to each other. Gitwangak is the most western Gitxsan village, being the
lowest on the Skeena River, at approximately 240 kilometers (150
miles) from the coast. Gitanyow, the second most westerly Gitxsan
village, is between 22-24 kilometers (14-15 miles) from Gitwangak
north on the Kitwancool River. In continuation, close to a small
canyon, Gitsegukla is located between Gitwangak and Gitanmaax on
the Skeena River. Gitanmaax is position at the confluence of the
Skeena and Bulkley Rivers at an estimated 264 kilometers (165 miles)
from the coast. The village of Kispiox is located an approximately
32 kilometers (20 miles) from Gitanmaax at the confluence of the
Kispiox and Skeena Rivers. The village of Glen Vowell or Sigit'ox
was recently established in the past one hundred years. It is located
between Kispiox and Gitanmaax on the Skeena River.
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