Tsimshian Wil’naat’ał and Society: Historicising Tsimshian Social Organization

• Main Author: James A McDonald
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; French
• Published: New Proposals Publishing Society 2017
• Subjects: Social Sciences; H; Socialism. Communism. Anarchism; HX1-970.7; Indian; Skeena; Skeena River; Metlakatla; Kitsumkalum; Tsimshian; Tsimshian*
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/69e22d9d30254a11990e839749ce79b4

This chapter explores ways that the framework of current social issues has been shaped by the colonial administration of the indigenous people in BC. I argue that the colonial history on the Skeena River has shifted the focus of Tsimshian society from the land owning Houses and lineages of Tsimshian sovereignty to the government settlements of the colonial period. During the time of Tsimshian sovereignty, the tribal communities were local associations of corporate groups called Houses or Wuwaap. The Indian Reserve system redefined ownership and shifted the corporate group from the Waap/House as recognized by Tsimshian ayaawx (common law) to the Indian Reserve Bands and villages as recognized under the British North America Act. This transformation conditions contemporary Tsimshian society. The argument is framed by historicising the three communities of Kitsumkalum, Lax Kw’alaams, and Metlakatla, and by demonstrating their interconnectedness.