Difference between revisions of "Tsimshian" - New World Encyclopedia

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Like all North Coast peoples, the Tsimshian were fearsome warriors with a deeply [[hierarchy|hierarchical]] society.  [[Succession]] was [[matrilineal]], and one's place in society was determined by one's [[clan]] or phratry (known as ''pteex'').  The Tsimshian [[clans]] are the [[Laxsgiik]] (Eagle Clan), [[Gispwudwada]] (Killerwhale Clan), [[Ganhada]] (Raven Clan) and [[Laxgibuu]] (Wolf Clan).  Marriage in Tsimshian society must take place between members of different clans.  The lord of a village was the head of the strongest clan, with the less powerful clan heads forming his council of the [[nobility]].
 
Like all North Coast peoples, the Tsimshian were fearsome warriors with a deeply [[hierarchy|hierarchical]] society.  [[Succession]] was [[matrilineal]], and one's place in society was determined by one's [[clan]] or phratry (known as ''pteex'').  The Tsimshian [[clans]] are the [[Laxsgiik]] (Eagle Clan), [[Gispwudwada]] (Killerwhale Clan), [[Ganhada]] (Raven Clan) and [[Laxgibuu]] (Wolf Clan).  Marriage in Tsimshian society must take place between members of different clans.  The lord of a village was the head of the strongest clan, with the less powerful clan heads forming his council of the [[nobility]].
  
The [[Tlingit]] claim that their art of weaving Chilkat blankets is derived from Tsimshian sources, although this has not been historically corroborated. The Tlingit also trace a number of other arts to Tsimshian sources. Intermarriage, name exchange, trade, and slaving were very common between the Tlingit, the Tsimshian, and the [[Haida]].
+
The [[Tlingit]] claim that their art of weaving Chilkat blankets is derived from Tsimshian sources, although this has not been historically corroborated. The Tlingit also trace a number of other arts to Tsimshian sources. Intermarriage, name exchange, trade, and slaving were very common between the Tlingit, the Tsimshian, and the [[Haida]].  
 +
 
 +
The Tsimshian were a seafaring people, as were the [[Haida]]. Tsimshian thrived on [[salmon]], which were especially plentiful prior to modern large-scale commercial fishing.  This abundant food source enabled the Tsimshian to live in permanent towns.  Tsimshian [[Long house|longhouses]] 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," 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 north coastal peoples, the Tsimshian engage in the [[Potlatch]], which they refer to as the yaawk or, in English, "feast."  In Tsimshian culture today, the potlatch centers primarily around death, burial, and succession to name-titles.
 +
 
 +
The end of the Tsimshian as a force to be reckoned with in the north came in 1860, when [[smallpox]] annihilated 80% of the entire Tsimshian population in only three years. Further epidemics would ravage the coast for many years, and a century of poverty and hopelessness reduced these numbers even further.  About 10,000 Tsimshian are alive today.
 +
 
 +
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]].  It appears the history of the Tsimshian is not over quite yet, and a new chapter is unfurling.
 +
 
 +
===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>
 +
 
  
 
===Alaskan Tsimshian===
 
===Alaskan Tsimshian===
Line 35: Line 49:
  
 
A people of [[North America]]'s northwest coast, inhabiting the southern Alaskan panhandle and the north coast 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. The Tsimshian and [[Tlingit]] shared a common way of life, and while this allowed for a great deal of trade, it also led to the two peoples ferociously battling for the best lands, the best fishing grounds, for slaves and plunder, or revenge for last time.
 
A people of [[North America]]'s northwest coast, inhabiting the southern Alaskan panhandle and the north coast 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. The Tsimshian and [[Tlingit]] shared a common way of life, and while this allowed for a great deal of trade, it also led to the two peoples ferociously battling for the best lands, the best fishing grounds, for slaves and plunder, or revenge for last time.
 
The Tsimshian were a seafaring people, as were the [[Haida]].
 
 
Tsimshian thrived on [[salmon]], which were especially plentiful prior to modern large-scale commercial fishing.  This abundant food source enabled the Tsimshian to live in permanent towns.  Tsimshian [[Long house|longhouses]] 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," 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 north coastal peoples, the Tsimshian engage in the [[Potlatch]], which they refer to as the yaawk or, in English, "feast."  In Tsimshian culture today, the potlatch centers primarily around death, burial, and succession to name-titles.
 
 
The end of the Tsimshian as a force to be reckoned with in the north came in 1860, when [[smallpox]] annihilated 80% of the entire Tsimshian population in only three years. Further epidemics would ravage the coast for many years, and a century of poverty and hopelessness reduced these numbers even further.  About 10,000 Tsimshian are alive today.
 
 
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]].  It appears the history of the Tsimshian is not over quite yet, and a new chapter is unfurling.
 
===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>
 
  
 
==Culture==
 
==Culture==
Line 64: Line 64:
  
 
===Potlatch===
 
===Potlatch===
 
+
The potlatch was one of the most notable features of this northwestern group.
  
 
===Totem Poles===
 
===Totem Poles===
 +
Totem poles are monuments made of wood, and being that they decay easily no examples of poles carved before 1800 exist. However, eighteenth century accounts of European explorers along the coast indicate that poles existed at that time. In all likelihood, the freestanding poles seen by the first European explorers were preceded by a long history of monumental carving, particularly interior houseposts.  Edward Malin has proposed a theory of development from houseposts, funerary containers and memorial markers into symbols of clan and family wealth and prestige.
  
The meanings of the designs on totem poles are as varied as the cultures which produce them. Totem poles may recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. Some poles are erected to celebrate cultural beliefs, but others are intended mostly as artistic presentations. Certain types of totem pole are part of mortuary structures incorporating grave boxes with carved supporting poles, or recessed backs in which grave boxes were placed. Poles are also carved to illustrate stories, to commemorate historic persons, to represent shamanic powers, and to provide objects of public ridicule.
+
The meanings of the designs on totem poles are varied and seems to be dependent on the artist as they represent aartistic expressions as well as ritualistic expressions. They may recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. Other poles celebrate cultural beliefs or events. In the nineteenth century  the "shame" poles developed to provide objects of public ridicule. These were to highlight an offense that needed to be addressed.  One such pole still stands, and the wrong was not redressed. This pole was erected by Chief Shakes to shame the Kiks.ádi clan into repaying a debt incurred by three of their slaves who impregnated some young women in Shakes's clan. The pole features three frogs representing the Kiks.ádi The Kiks.ádi clan never acknowledged the problem, and the poles remains.  Not realizing the meaning of the pole, the local newspaper used it as a logo and it has become synonymous with the village of Wrangell, Alaska. {{HELP\ reference here...http://www.crystalinks.com/totempoles.html}}
 
 
The beginnings of totem pole construction are not known. Being made of wood they decay easily in the rainforest environment of the Northwest Coast, so no examples of poles carved before 1800 exist. However eighteenth century accounts of European explorers along the coast indicate that poles certainly existed at that time, although small and few in number. In all likelihood, the freestanding poles seen by the first European explorers were preceded by a long history of monumental carving, particularly interior houseposts.
 
 
 
Edward Malin has proposed a theory of totem pole development which describes totem poles as progressing from houseposts, funerary containers, and memorial markers into symbols of clan and family wealth and prestige. He argues that the epicenter of pole construction was centered around the Haida people of the Queen Charlotte Islands, from whence it spread outward to the Tsimshian and Tlingit and then down the coast to the tribes of British Columbia and northern Washington. The regional stylistic differences between poles would then be due not to a change in style over time, but instead to application of existing regional artistic styles to a new medium.
 
  
 
==Contemporary Life==
 
==Contemporary Life==

Revision as of 18:25, 14 December 2007


Tsimshian
Tsimshians near Fort Simpson, British Columbia, c. 1890
Total population
10,000
Regions with significant populations
Canada (British Columbia), United States (Alaska)
Languages
English, Tsimshian
Religions
Christianity, other
Related ethnic groups
other Penutian peoples

The Tsimshian, usually pronounced in English as /'sɪm.ʃi.æn/[1] (from Sm'algyax ts’msyan, "inside the Skeena River"),[2] are Indigenous, or Native American and First Nation people who live around Terrace and Prince Rupert, on the north coast of British Columbia and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island. Currently there are about 10,000 Tsimshians, of which about 1,300 live in Alaska.

Canadian Tsimshian live along the Skeena and Nass rivers, as well as the many inlets and islands on the coast. The Tsimshian have traditionally obtained food through fishing (halibut and salmon) and hunting (seals, sea lions and sea otters).

Overview

The Tsimshian nation consists of fourteen bands: the Kitasoo (who live at Klemtu, B.C.), the Gitga'ata (Hartley Bay, B.C.), the Kitkatla (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, and Gitzaxłaał. An additional Tsimshian village community in Canada, Metlakatla, B.C. ("Old Metlakatla"), is not associated with any one particular tribe or group of tribes. The one Tsimshian community in Alaska, "New" Metlakatla, is an offshoot of the original Metlakatla, B.C., population (see below).

Like all North Coast peoples, the Tsimshian were fearsome warriors with a deeply hierarchical society. Succession was matrilineal, and one's place in society was determined by one's clan or phratry (known as pteex). The Tsimshian clans are the Laxsgiik (Eagle Clan), Gispwudwada (Killerwhale Clan), Ganhada (Raven Clan) and Laxgibuu (Wolf Clan). Marriage in Tsimshian society must take place between members of different clans. The lord of a village was the head of the strongest clan, with the less powerful clan heads forming his council of the nobility.

The Tlingit claim that their art of weaving Chilkat blankets is derived from Tsimshian sources, although this has not been historically corroborated. The Tlingit also trace a number of other arts to Tsimshian sources. Intermarriage, name exchange, trade, and slaving were very common between the Tlingit, the Tsimshian, and the Haida.

The Tsimshian were a seafaring people, as were the Haida. Tsimshian thrived on salmon, which were especially plentiful prior to modern large-scale commercial fishing. This abundant food source enabled the Tsimshian to live in permanent towns. Tsimshian longhouses 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," who aided people in times of need by sending supernatural servants to earth to aid them. The Tsimshian believed that charity and purification of the body (either by cleanliness or fasting) was the route to the afterlife.

As with all north coastal peoples, the Tsimshian engage in the Potlatch, which they refer to as the yaawk or, in English, "feast." In Tsimshian culture today, the potlatch centers primarily around death, burial, and succession to name-titles.

The end of the Tsimshian as a force to be reckoned with in the north came in 1860, when smallpox annihilated 80% of the entire Tsimshian population in only three years. Further epidemics would ravage the coast for many years, and a century of poverty and hopelessness reduced these numbers even further. About 10,000 Tsimshian are alive today.

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 autonomy from Canada by the government of British Columbia. It appears the history of the Tsimshian is not over quite yet, and a new chapter is unfurling.

Treaty Process

The Tsimshian expressed an interest in preserving their villages and fishing sites on the Skeena and Nass rivers as early as 1879, but were not able to begin negotiating a treaty until July 1983.[3] 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 Commission to reach an Agreement-in-Principle.[4]


Alaskan Tsimshian

The Tsimshian in Alaska were refugees from religious persecution in Canada during the 1880s. Led by the Anglican lay missionary William Duncan, a group of Tsimshian requested settlement on Annette Island from the U.S. government. There Duncan and about 750 Tsimshian followers established the village of Metlakatla. The island was founded as a reservation for the Tsimshian people and is the only Indian reservation in Alaska.

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 state in 1959. The traps are used to provide food for people living on the reservation.

Canadian Tsimshian

The Tsimshian in Canada are in negotiations with Canada and British Columbia for a treaty settlement. These negotiations were pursued through the Tsimshian Tribal Council until that organization dissolved in late 2005 amid legal and political turmoil. It is still unclear whether there will be a new treaty negotiating umbrella organization.

Some earlier anthropological and linguistic sources also group the Gitxsan and Nisga'a people together as "Tsimshian," because of linguistic affinities. Under this terminology Tsimshians were referred to as the "Coast Tsimshian," even though the Kitsumkalum and Kitselas Tsimshians were not coastal. But all this usage is now outmoded and was never the Native usage. The Gitxsan, Nisga'a, and Tsimshian today are referred to as separate nations.

A people of North America's northwest coast, inhabiting the southern Alaskan panhandle and the north coast 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. The Tsimshian and Tlingit shared a common way of life, and while this allowed for a great deal of trade, it also led to the two peoples ferociously battling for the best lands, the best fishing grounds, for slaves and plunder, or revenge for last time.

Culture

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. Tsimshian is a Penutian language related to Gitxsan and Nisga'a.

Mythology

Tsimshian head-on mask, used during the initiation rituals of the great winter ceremonies (halait). Collected in Nisga'a territory, at the mouth of the Nass River. Wood, British Columbia (Canada), nineteenth century.

The Tsimshian are a First Nations, Native American people in Canada and the United States. The majority of Tsimshian people live in British Columbia, while others live in Alaska.

Tsmishian myth is known from orally-passed tales. An Adaox is a story concerning animal spirits in human guise and is usually linked to the origin of the Earth and the peoples on it. A Malesk, in contrast, is an adventure or history tale that purports to entertain rather than explain.

The raven spirit is known as We-gyet or Txamsem. Txamsem is said to have a brother named Logobola who is responsible for the lack of fresh water as well as the existence of the fog into which Txamsem became lost.

Potlatch

The potlatch was one of the most notable features of this northwestern group.

Totem Poles

Totem poles are monuments made of wood, and being that they decay easily no examples of poles carved before 1800 exist. However, eighteenth century accounts of European explorers along the coast indicate that poles existed at that time. In all likelihood, the freestanding poles seen by the first European explorers were preceded by a long history of monumental carving, particularly interior houseposts. Edward Malin has proposed a theory of development from houseposts, funerary containers and memorial markers into symbols of clan and family wealth and prestige.

The meanings of the designs on totem poles are varied and seems to be dependent on the artist as they represent aartistic expressions as well as ritualistic expressions. They may recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. Other poles celebrate cultural beliefs or events. In the nineteenth century the "shame" poles developed to provide objects of public ridicule. These were to highlight an offense that needed to be addressed. One such pole still stands, and the wrong was not redressed. This pole was erected by Chief Shakes to shame the Kiks.ádi clan into repaying a debt incurred by three of their slaves who impregnated some young women in Shakes's clan. The pole features three frogs representing the Kiks.ádi The Kiks.ádi clan never acknowledged the problem, and the poles remains. Not realizing the meaning of the pole, the local newspaper used it as a logo and it has become synonymous with the village of Wrangell, Alaska. Template:HELP\ reference here...http://www.crystalinks.com/totempoles.html

Contemporary Life

The contemporary Tsimshian are represented in various organizations. They are represented within UNPO by the Tsimshian Nation Gitlaxyuup-m and Smgigyet Society (operational organization owned by the Tsimshian Hereditary Chiefs; English translation: People of the land and Hereditary Chiefs Society)

Prominent Tsimshians (and people of Tsimshian descent)

  • Frederick Alexcee, artist
  • William Beynon, hereditary chief and ethnographer
  • Heber Clifton, hereditary chief and community leader
  • Alfred Dudoward, hereditary chief
  • Bill Helin, artist
  • Calvin Helin, businessman and author
  • Paul Legaic, hereditary chief and trader
  • Rev. Edward Marsden, clergyman
  • Charles Menzies (anthropologist)
  • Odille Morison, translator and art collector
  • Rev. William Henry Pierce, missionary and memoirist
  • Peter Simpson, Indian rights activist
  • Henry W. Tate, oral historian
  • Roy Henry Vickers, artist
  • Arthur Wellington Clah, hereditary chief and diarist
  • Walter Wright, hereditary chief and oral historian

Anthropologists and other scholars who have worked with the Tsimshian

  • Marius Barbeau
  • William Beynon
  • Franz Boas
  • Philip Drucker
  • Wilson Duff
  • Viola Garfield
  • Marjorie Halpin

Missionaries who have worked among the Tsimshian

  • Rev. William Henry Collison
  • Rev. Thomas Crosby, Methodist
  • William Duncan, Anglican/independent
  • Rev. Edward Marsden, Presbyterian
  • Bishop William Ridley, Anglican
  • Robert Tomlinson, Anglican
  • Joseph Burton

Notes

  1. or approximately "SIM-shee-an"
  2. Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pg. 396 n. 29
  3. Kitsumkalum and the Tsimshian Treaty Process Kitsumkalum Treaty Office
  4. Tsimshian First Nations - BC Treaty Commission

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Barbeau, Marius (1950) Totem Poles. 2 vols. (Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada. ISBN-10: 0660129027
  • 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. ASIN: B000P97EZ0
  • Garfield, Viola, "Tsimshian Clan and Society." University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, vol. 7, no. 3 (1939), pp. 167-340. ASIN: B000867VDK
  • Garfield, Viola E., and Paul S. Wingert, The Tsimshian Indians and Their Arts. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1951, 1966. ISBN-10: 0295740426
  • 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. ISBN-10: 052157109X
  • Miller, Jay, Tsimshian Culture: A Light through the Ages. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. ISBN-10: 0803282664
  • 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.

External links

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