The Kitlope River is a river in the

Kitimat Ranges , photo = Lax Kw'alaams.jpg , photo_size = 280px , photo_caption = Lax Kw'alaams backdropped by Mount McNeil , map = , map_image = BC-relief_Kitimatranges.png , map_caption = Kitimat Ranges ...

in the

North Coast of British Columbia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, flowing north for ,Length measured using Google Maps path tool, BCGNIS coordinates, topographic maps, an
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into the head of the

Gardner Canal The Gardner Canal is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. Technically a side-inlet of the larger Douglas Channel, the Gardner Canal is still in length in its own right; total length of the waterways converging on the Douglas ...

to the south of the smelter town of

Kitimat Kitimat is a district municipality in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine regional government. The Kitimat Valley is part of the most populous urban distr ...

. It is named for the Gitlope group of

Haisla Haisla may refer to: * Haisla people, an indigenous people living in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada. * Haisla language, their northern Wakashan language. * Haisla Nation The Haisla Nation is the Indian Act-mandated band government which nominall ...

, now part of the

Haisla Nation The Haisla Nation is the Indian Act-mandated band government which nominally represents the Haisla people in the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the reserve community of Kitamaat Village. The traditional ...

government and community at

Kitamaat Village Kitamaat Village, formerly Kitimat Mission, is the principal community of the Haisla people and their government, the Haisla Nation. Located on the ''Kitamaat 2'' First Nations Reserve (formerly Kitimat 2) on the east side of Kitimat Arm just sout ...

near Kitimat. The name is a

Tsimshian language The Tsimshianic languages are a family of languages spoken in northwestern British Columbia and in Southeast Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan. All Tsimshianic languages are endangered, some with only around 400 speakers. Only around 2,170 ...

reference to the people, who call themselves Henaksiala, and means "people of the rocks" or "people of the opening in the mountains". The

Haisla language The Haisla language, ''X̄a'islak̓ala'' or ''X̌àh̓isl̩ak̓ala'', is a First Nations language spoken by the Haisla people of the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, who are based in the village of Kitamaat. This is ...

name for the river is Xesduwaxwsdu. The term "the Kitlope" may refer also to the basin of the Kitlope, including the basins of its tributaries. The area has been the scene of protracted conservationist vs. resource extraction controversy since the 1970s and is now the

Kitlope Heritage Conservancy The Kitlope Heritage Conservancy or Huchsduwachsdu Nuyem Jees ("source of milky blue waters") in the Haisla language, is a conservancy located on the Pacific coast of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It preserves the largest continuous ...

, a protected area managed by

BC Parks BC Parks is an agency of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy that manages all of the, as of 2020, 1,035 provincial parks and other conservation and historical properties of various title designations within t ...

. The Kitlope Indian Reserve No. 16 is located at the river's mouth.

Tributaries

* Tsaytis River (''C'itis'' in Haisla) - joins the Kitlope at its estuary * Kalitan Creek (''Tlasudis'' in Haisla) - joins the Kitlope via the Tezwa *

Tezwa River The Tezwa River is a river in the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kitlope River drainage, feeding that river via the head of Kitlope Lake. Name The name was created by Frank Swannell, governm ...

(''Wa'yuwa'' in Haisla) - joins the Kitlope via

Kitlope Lake Kitlope is a Tsimshian word meaning "people of the rocks" or "people from the opening in the mountains", a reference to a subgroup of the Haisla peoples. History shows that this village at one time was Kitselas Territory until the Haisla arrived. T ...

Gamsby River The Gamsby River is a river in the Kitimat Ranges of the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It flows southwest to meet the Kitlope River, of which it is a tributary. See also *List of rivers of British Columbia The following is a p ...

* Tnaiko Creek (''Daniko'' in Haisla; the Tenaiko is tributary to the Gamsby - note also

Tenaiko Range The Tenaiko Range is a small subrange of the Kitimat Ranges in British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward i ...

) *

Kapella River The Kapella River is a river in the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It rises west of Cornice Peak and flows northwest to join the Kitlope River. See also *Capella (disambiguation) *List of rivers of British Co ...

(''Qapela'ax'' in Haisla)

References

Rivers of the North Coast of British Columbia Rivers of the Kitimat Ranges {{BritishColumbia-river-stub