KITSELAS FIRST PEOPLE IN CANADA

THE PEOPLE OF KITSELAS CANYON HAVE THRIVED HERE SINCE OF KIT SELAS CANYON HAVE THRIVED HERE SINCE MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO WITH FERTILIZE RIVERS AND LAND. THEY ARE PROUD OF THEIR HERITAGE. ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE NOTED THEIR TOOLS DATE 5000+ YEARS AGO.

THEIR LANGUAGE IS TSIMSHIAN. THEY HAVE FOUR MAIN CLANS AS WELL AS AS SUBCLANS. THE KITSELA HAVE 500 PLUS PEOPLE. THEY LIVE ON NINE RESERVATIONS. THEY HAVE DEVELOPED AN HISTORICAL SITE WITH FOUR LONG HOUSES AND TOTEM POLES. THEY GIVE REGULAR TOURS. LITTLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK HAS TAKEN PLACE HERE AS THE GRAND TRUNK RAILROAD BUILT OVER THE SITE. THE SITE IS LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF SKEENA RIVER SOUTH OF THE CANYON. THEIR WORD FOR GRIZZLY BEAR IS "MEDEEK". ANOTHER VILLAGE IS GITAUS OR "THE PEOPLE OF THE SANDBAR". THIS VILLAGE WAS TESTED BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS BUT CAN'T BE COMPARED TO TSUNYOW BECAUSE THEY HAD NO TESTS THERE.

THE PAUL MASON SITE WAS DISCOVERED IN 1981, BUT THE VILLAGE WAS LOST FROM ORAL HISTORIES OF THE GITAUS. THERE WERE 10 HOUSE FLOORS DISCOVERED AND THE EARLIEST HUMAN OCCUPATION WAS RADIOCARBON DATED TO 5000 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT. tHEY FOUND MICROBLADES, FLAKED COBBLE TOOLS TOOLS. THEY PROCESSED LEATHER AND FISH HERE AND CUT UP MEAT. THE OBSIDIAN AND QUARTZ MATERIALS MAKE UP THE TOOLS. THIS DISCOVERY INDICATES THESE PEOPLE HAD TRADE NETWORKS A FEW HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THE PEOPLE WERE AT GITAUS. 3200 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT THIS SITE HAD PERMANENT DWELLINGS BASED UPON PREPARED HOUSE FLOORS. DURING THIS TIME THEY STARTED DRYING FISH. BASED ON THE EVIDENCE OF TWO HEARTHS ON THE HOUSES THEY MAY HAVE HAD TWO FAMILIES EACH. ALL HOUSE SIZES ARE THE SAME. THE OTHER VILLAGE HAD DIFFERENT HOUSE SIZES.

THE VILLAGE OF GITLAXDZAWK IS ON A SMALL ISLAND IN KITSELEY CANYON. IN 1910 IT IS CONNECTED TO LAND BY FILL WHEN THEY BUILT THE GRAND TRUNK PAC RAILROAD TUNNELS. GITLAXDZAWK HAS THREE MEANINGS: 1) A PEOPLE OF THE PHASE PLACE WHERE THEY STEAL CANOE BOTTOM BOARDS. THEY OPERATED A TALL SYSTEM IN THE CANYON. LARGE BOULDERS WERE THROWN IN CANOES THAT DISREGARDED THE PAYMENT. IT WAS ALSO CALLED PEOPLE OF THE RAVINE AND THE FORTRESS. THEY HAVE TEN HOUSES THERE. A SITE ON THE ISLAND THERE. TODAY THERE IS NO ACCESS TO IT. THE MAIN VILLAGE WAS BUILT ON A HILL WHICH WAS FORTIFIED BY TIMBERS AND LOGS AND CONSTRUED WITH GREATER PROTECTION.

THE HOUSES WERE IRREGULARLY PLACED. IN EACH HOUSE THEY HAD 30 RESIDENTS AND 300 FOLKS IN A VILLAGE. BECAUSE OF IMMIGRANT CONTACT IN THE SKEENA VALLEY, THE NATIVES ABANDONED THIS AREA. SOME POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES OF IMMIGRANT SETTLEMENT SUCH AS THEIR ACTIVITY IN WANING FUR TRADE, TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS FOR THE GITSELASU AND LATER INVOLVEMENT IN THE COMMERCIAL FISHING ALONG THE COAST. THEY WERE AFFECTED BY SMALLPOX. THEY NO LONGER CONTROLLED MOVEMENTS THROUGH THE CANYON AFFECTING THEIR COMPETITION WITH SETTLERS FOR RESOURCES SUCH AS FISH, GAME, TIMBER AND OTHER JOBS.

THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND PETROGLYPHS OF HUMANS AND ANIMALS IN THE SKEENA VALLEY. NO ONE KNOWS THEIR MEANING. THEY MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH SHAMANISM. THE SHAMANS CURED PEOPLE OF POSSIBLY MADE PETROGLYPHS AS PART OF THEIR ACTIVITY. THESE ACTIVITIES OCCUR ED AWAY FROM THE VILLAGES AND MAKING PETROGLPHS MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH TRANFORMATION. SOME PETROGLYPHS MAY BE SUBMERGED IN WATER BY RISING RIVERS OR TIDAL LEVELS, OR MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH SHAMANIC IDEA OF TRANSFORMATION.

THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT THESE PETROGLYPHS IS THEIR IDEA ABOUT TRANSFORMATION. THIS IS A SPIRITUAL CONCEPT OF 'TSIMSIAN'. ONE CARVING HAS THE APPEARANCE OF A HUMAN FACE. OR MASK. WHEN VIEWED FROM THE OTHER SIDE THE FACE IS TRANSFORMED INTO THAT OF AN ANIMAL OR POSSIBLY ANOTHER MASK. OTHER PETROGLYPHS ARE FOUND IN THIS AREA.

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