Geography
Geographical Description'Ksan Historical Village and Museum is positioned
at the confluence of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in the Village
of Hazelton. Here, near the original location of Gitanmaax village,
'Ksan is a cultural interpretive centre dedicated to demonstrating
the richness of Gitxsan culture and heritage ('Ksan Association,
1995: appendix 1). 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
Description, Cultural Diversity, Gitxsan Villages, Wet'suwet'en
Villages, Non-Gitxsan Communities, and Transportation Routes.
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 (Kehoe, 1992: 429, Matson and Coupland,
1997: 12). 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 (Kehoe, 1992: 429, Matson and Coupland, 1997: 02-03).
This large area is further divided into three sub-areas. These three
sub-areas are the Northern Coast, Central Coast, and the Southern
Coast (Kehoe, 1992: 429). 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 (Matson and Coupland, 1997: 03). 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
(Farley 1979: 39 [cited in Coupland, 1996: 159]). The Nass River,
in comparison, has a watershed of 21,150 square kilometers (Sterrit,
1998/99: 75). 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 (Delgamuukw
v. R., 1997: II Facts, A [cited in Persky, 1998: 43]). This vast
area is estimated to be 22,000 square kilometers (Gitxsan
Nation,:) 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 (Sterritt, et al., 1998: 05). Gitxsan VillagesGitxsan communities are located primarily on the Skeena River and its tributaries above Kitselas Canyon (Coupland, 1996: 159, Galois, 1992: 61). Presently there are six Gitxsan communities, and they are as follows: 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 (Barbeau, 1973: 03). Gitanyow, the second
most westerly Gitxsan village, is between 22-24 kilometers
(14-15 miles) from Gitwangak north on the Kitwancool River (British
Columbia Provincial Museum, 1959: 11, Barbeau, 1973: 03). In continuation,
close to a small canyon, Gitsegukla is located between Gitwangak
and Gitanmaax on the Skeena River (Barbeau, 1973: 03, Galois, 1992:
62). Gitanmaax is position at the confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley
Rivers at an estimated 264 kilometers (165 miles) from the coast
(Barbaeu, 1973: 03). The village of Kispiox is located an approximately
32 kilometers (20 miles) from Gitanmaax at the confluence of the
Kispiox and Skeena Rivers (Barbaeu, 1973: 03). 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. Home | Museum
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