Tsimshian
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2008-06-27T14:41:02Z
Skookum1
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The '''Tsimshian''' ([[Coast Tsimshian|Sm'algyax]]: '''Ts’msyan''') {{IPA|/'sɪm.ʃi.æn/}} are an [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast]]. Tsimshian translates to ''Inside the [[Skeena River]]''.<ref>Campbell, Lyle (1997). ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pg. 396 n. 29</ref> Their communities are in [[British Columbia]] and [[Alaska]], around [[Terrace, British Columbia|Terrace]] and [[Prince Rupert, British Columbia|Prince Rupert]] and the southernmost corner of [[Alaska]] on Annette Island. There are approximately 10,000 Tsimshian. Their culture is [[matrilineal]] with a societal structure based on a clan system. Early anthropologists and linguistics grouped [[Gitxsan]] and [[Nisga'a]] as ''Tsimshian'' because of linguistic affinities. Under this terminology they were referred to as ''Coast Tsimshian'', even though some communities were not coastal. The three peoples identify as separate nations.
== History ==
In 1862 [[smallpox]] annihilated 80% of Tsimshian population over three years time. Further epidemics ravaged their communities for many years
In the 1880's, an [[Anglican]] missionary named [[William Duncan (missionary)|William Duncan]], with a group of Tsimshian requested settlement on Annette Island from the [[Federal Government of the United States|U.S. government]]. After being approved, this group founded [[Metlakatla, Alaska|New Metlakatla]] in [[Alaska]]. William Duncan later requested the community gain [[reservation]] status, which after approved, makes this the only [[Indian reservation]]. They maintained their reservation status and holdings exclusive of the [[Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act]] and thus do not have an associated Native Corporation, although Tsimshian in Alaska may be shareholders of the Sealaska Corporation. The Annette Island reservation is the only location in Alaska allowed to maintain fish traps, which were otherwise banned when Alaska became a [[U.S. state|state]] in [[1959]]. The traps are used to provide food for people living on the reservation.
In British Columbia, the governments of Canada started engaging in the [[British Columbia Treaty Process]] with [[First Nation]] bands in the province. Originally the Tsimshian First Nations pursued negotiations until late 2005 when the Tsimshian Tribal Council, the organization for representing each of the First Nations in treaty negotiations, dissolved amid legal and political turmoil.
== Culture ==
Like all Northwest Coastal peoples, they thrived on the abundant sea life, especially [[salmon]]. It was a staple for many years and continues to be, despite large-scale commercial fishing. This abundant food source enabled the Tsimshian to live in permanent towns. They lived in large bighouses, made from cedar house posts and panels. These were very large, and usually housed an entire extended family. Cultural [[taboos]] centered around women and men eating improper foods during and after childbirth. Marriage was an extremely formal affair, involving several prolonged and sequential ceremonies.
Tsimshian religion centered around the "Lord of Heaven",<!--Smalgyax name? or is this from CJ Saghalie Tyee?--> who aided people in times of need by sending supernatural servants to earth to aid them. The Tsimshian believed that [[Charity (virtue)|charity]] and [[purification]] of the body (either by cleanliness or [[fasting]]) was the route to the [[afterlife]].
As with all [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|Northwest Coast peoples]], the Tsimshian engage in the [[potlatch]], which they refer to as the ''yaawk'' or, in English, "feast." In Tsimshian culture today, the potlatch centres primarily around death, burial, and succession to name-titles.
The Tsimshian were a seafaring people, as were the [[Haida]].
The Tsimshian live on in their art, their culture and their language, which is making a comeback. In a highly controversial agreement, the [[Nisga'a]] people recently gained [[Autonomous entity|autonomy]] from [[Canada]] by the government of [[British Columbia]].
Like other coastal peoples, the Tsimshian fashioned most of their goods out of [[Western Redcedar]], particularly from its [[bark]], which could be fashioned into tools, clothing, roofing, armor, building materials and canoe skins. The Tsimshian had the misfortune of being the nearest and most favored victims of [[Haida]] depredations, though particular Tsimshian chiefs were close allies of certain Haida chiefs<!--more on this later-->.
== Tribes ==
The Tsimshian nation (meaning the Coast Tsimshian) in British Columbia consists of fourteen bands:
*the [[Kitasoo]] (who live at [[Klemtu]], B.C.)
*the [[Gitga'ata]] ([[Hartley Bay]], B.C.)
*the [[Kitkatla]] ([[Kitkatla, British Columbia|Kitkatla, B.C.]])
*the [[Kitsumkalum]] (Kitsumkalum, B.C.)
*the [[Kitselas]] or Gits'ilaasü (Kitselas, B.C.)
*and nine tribes resident at [[Lax Kw'alaams]] (a.k.a. Port Simpson), B.C.:
**[[Giluts'aaw]]
**[[Ginadoiks]]
**[[Ginaxangiik]]
**[[Gispaxlo'ots]]
**[[Gitando]]
**[[Gitlaan]]
**[[Gits'iis]]
**[[Gitwilgyoots]]
**[[Gitzaxłaał]]
== Clans ==
The Tsimshian clans are the
* [[Laxsgiik]] (Eagle Clan),
* [[Gispwudwada]] (Killerwhale Clan)
* [[Ganhada]] (Raven Clan)
* [[Laxgibuu]] (Wolf Clan)
===Treaty Process===
The Tsimshian expressed an interest in preserving their villages and fishing sites on the [[Skeena river|Skeena]] and [[Nass River]]s as early as 1879, but were not able to begin negotiating a treaty until July 1983.<ref name="treatyinfo">[http://www.kitsumkalum.bc.ca/treaty.html Kitsumkalum and the Tsimshian Treaty Process] Kitsumkalum Treaty Office</ref> A decade later, fourteen bands united to negotiate under the collective name of the [[Tsimshian Tribal Council]]. A framework agreement was signed in 1997, and the Tsimshian nation continue to negotiate with the [[BC Treaty Process|BC Treaty Commission]] to reach an Agreement-in-Principle.<ref name="bctreaty">[http://www.bctreaty.net/nations_3/tsimshian.html Tsimshian First Nations] - BC Treaty Commission</ref>
==Language==
The Tsimshian speak a [[Tsimshianic]] language, referred to by linguists as "[[Coast Tsimshian]]" and by Tsimshians as Sm'algyax, which means "real or true language." It has a northern and southern variety, of which the southern variety, often called Southern Tsimshian by linguists and spoken only at Klemtu, is very close to extinct. Approximately 30 speakers reside in Alaska, with another 300 in Canada. Tsimshianic languages are classified as a member of the only-theoretical a [[Penutian]] language group by that theory's proponents.
==Prominent Tsimshians (and people of Tsimshian descent)==
* [[Frederick Alexcee]], artist
* [[William Beynon]], hereditary chief of the [[Gitlaan]] and ethnographer
* [[Heber Clifton]], hereditary chief of the [[Gitga'ata]] and community leader
* [[Alfred Dudoward]], hereditary chief of the [[Gitando]]
* [[Bill Helin]], artist
* [[Calvin Helin]], businessman and author
* [[Ligeex|Paul Legaic]], hereditary chief of the [[Gispaxlo'ots]] and trader
* Rev. [[Edward Marsden]], clergyman
* [[Charles Menzies (anthropologist)]]
* [[Odille Morison]], translator and art collector
* Rev. [[William Henry Pierce]], missionary and memoirist
* [[Peter Simpson (Native rights activist)|Peter Simpson]], Indian rights activist
* [[Henry W. Tate]], oral historian
* [[Roy Henry Vickers]], artist
* [[Arthur Wellington Clah]], hereditary chief of the [[Gitlaan]] and diarist
* [[Walter Wright (oral historian)|Walter Wright]], hereditary chief of the Gits'ilaasü ([[Kitselas]]) and oral historian
* [[Shannon Thunderbird]], singer, songwriter, storyteller, speaker, educator, recording artist
==Anthropologists and other scholars who have worked with the Tsimshian==
* [[Marius Barbeau]]
* [[William Beynon]]
* [[Franz Boas]]
* [[Philip Drucker]]
* [[Wilson Duff]]
* [[Viola Garfield]]
* [[Marjorie Halpin]]
* [[James McDonald]]
==Missionaries who have worked among the Tsimshian==
* Rev. [[William Henry Collison]]
* Rev. [[Thomas Crosby]], Methodist
* [[William Duncan (missionary)|William Duncan]], Anglican/independent
* Rev. [[Edward Marsden]], Presbyterian
* Bishop [[William Ridley (bishop)|William Ridley]], Anglican
* [[Robert Tomlinson]], Anglican
* Joseph Burton
* Doc. David H. Pieplow
==References==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
* [[Tsimshian mythology]]
* [[Gitksan language]]
* [[Nisga'a language]]
* [[Coast Tsimshian]]
==External links==
* [http://www.civilisations.ca/aborig/tsimsian/intro00e.html The Canadian Museum of Civilization - Tsimshian Prehistory]
* [http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/images/map2.jpg map of Northwest Coast First Nations] (including Tsimshian)
==Bibliography==
* Barbeau, Marius (1950) ''Totem Poles.'' 2 vols. (Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada.
*[[Franz Boas|Boas, Franz]], "Tsimshian Mythology." in ''Thirty-First Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1909-1910,'' pp. 29-1037. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916.
*[[Viola Garfield|Garfield, Viola]], "Tsimshian Clan and Society." ''University of Washington Publications in Anthropology,'' vol. 7, no. 3 (1939), pp. 167-340.
*Garfield, Viola E., and Paul S. Wingert, ''The Tsimshian Indians and Their Arts.'' University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1951, 1966.
*[[Marjorie Halpin|Halpin, Marjorie M.]], and Margaret Seguin, "Tsimshian Peoples: Southern Tsimshian, Coast Tsimshian, Nishga, and Gitksan." In: ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 7: Northwest Coast,'' edited by Wayne Suttles. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1990, pp. 267-284.
*McDonald, James A. (2003) People of the Robin: The Tsimshian of Kitsumkalum. CCI Press.
*Miller, Jay, ''Tsimshian Culture: A Light through the Ages.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.
*Miller, Jay, and Carol Eastman, eds., ''The Tsimshian and Their Neighbors of the North Pacific Coast.'' Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1984.
*Neylan, Susan, ''The Heavens Are Changing: Nineteenth-Century Protestant Missions and Tsimshian Christianity.'' Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003.
*Seguin, Margaret, ''Interpretive Contexts for Traditional and Current Coast Tsimshian Feasts.'' Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1985.
*Seguin, Marget, ed., ''The Tsimshian: Images of the Past, Views for the Present.'' Vancouver: UBC Press, 1984.
[[Category:Tsimshian]]
[[Category:North Coast of British Columbia]]
[[Category:First Nations in British Columbia]]
[[Category:Alaska Native ethnic groups]]
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