Witset (formerly Moricetown) is a Wet'suwet'en village in Central

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada on the west side of the

Bulkley River The Bulkley River in British Columbia is a major tributary of the Skeena River. The Bulkley is long with a drainage basin covering . Much of the Bulkey is paralleled by Highway 16. It flows west from Bulkley Lake past Perow and is joined near ...

on Coryatsaqua (Moricetown) Indian Reserve No. 2, and on Moricetown Indian Reserve No.1. The current village was built during the early 1900s. Evidence of inhabitants date back to around 5,500 years ago.

Name

The original name of the village was Witset. It was abandoned after a rockslide that prevented salmon from reaching the canyon. Witsuwit'en people then settled in Tsë Cakh (Hagwilget) and referred to the old village as Këyikh Wigit (often spelled Kyah Wiget). It was renamed after the pioneer missionary Father Adrien-Gabriel Morice, who named the village after himself, and was admonished by the church for doing so.Petition to change B.C. village of Moricetown to traditional name

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, Aug 27, 2017 On May 5, 2018, the community officially reverted to its original name, Witset. The community’s name now means something akin to “first” or “the people of the first village.” The name change came about in part through the work of Wanda Nikal, a Wet'suwet'en woman who organized a petition over the issue. In September 2017, the Band Council voted in favour of the name change.Moricetown moves to return name to Witset
The Interior News, Sep. 21, 2017

Facts

*Population: Approximately 815 on-reserve, Approximately, 800 off-reserve, throughout B.C. and Canada *Government: The traditional governing system is the feast system, related in concept to the

potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Science ...

of coastal peoples; however, the Wet'suwet'en people do currently have the elected Band Council system as well. *Location: Halfway between

Smithers Smithers is a surname of English origin. It derives from the Middle English term "smyther", referring to a metalsmith, and is thus related to the common occupational surname Smith. The name Smither is related. People *Alan Smithers (born 1938), ...

and New Hazelton, 31 km from each town. Straddles the Trans-Canada Yellowhead 16 Highway, along the

Valley. The river plunges through a narrow gorge, tumbling down a series of rushing waterfalls, and salmon are plentiful.

Directions

West of Witset in British Columbia is New Hazelton (33),

Kitwanga Kitwanga or Gitwangak or Gitwangax ("people of the place of rabbits" in the Gitxsan language) is located where the Kitwanga River runs into the Skeena River in British Columbia. A long-standing village before contact, the village is within Gi ...

(81),

Terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

(172), Kitimat (230) and

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...

(316). East of Witset is

(31), Telkwa (48),

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

(97), Topley (127) and Prince George (401).

Culture

The village celebrates the traditional feast system, made up of five clans: the Big Frog, Small Frog, Beaver, Wolf/Bear, and Fireweed clans. However, fewer than 15% speak the Wet'suwet'en language and less than 5% understand the language without speaking it. The Band is known as the Moricetown Band, and it is currently participating in the

British Columbia Treaty Process The British Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP) is a land claims negotiation process started in 1993 to resolve outstanding issues, including claims to un-extinguished indigenous rights, with British Columbia's First Nations. Two treaties have been ...

. The Moricetown Band is a separate body from the Office of the Wetsuwet'en that leads the majority of treaty negotiations. The culture of the Wetsuwet'en is in danger of being lost. School District #54 (Bulkley Valley), in partnership with Kyah Wiget Education Society and the Witsuwit'en Language Authority, has taken steps to help the Wetsuwet'en to preserve their culture by publishing their history in a textbook for grades 7-12 titled "Niwhts’ide’nï Hibi’it’ën: The Ways of Our Ancestors" (2011). Additionally, the Moricetown Elementary School teaches language and integrates members of the community in its program to keep the culture alive.

Community resources

The Witset Multiplex is a grand design that includes the Band office, the community gym/feast hall, and school. There is an office available for the RCMP to use when they come into the community. The

Office of the Hereditary Chiefs An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...

operates the Wet’suwet’en Unlocking Aboriginal Justice (WUAJ) program in conjunction with the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

department. The WUAJ Program has been in place since 1995, offering an Alternative Justice Program for first-time, non-violent First Nations offenders. The WUAJ office is in the chief's office in Smithers, B.C. A Witsuwit'en Language Authority created by fluent speakers and creating innovative ways to engage with NON FLUENT speakers and starting Early learning in the schools and homes.

Industry

*Kyahwood Forest Products JV is a . wood and lumber plant. It is a joint venture including the Band as 51% shareholder, and Northwood Incorporated holding the remaining 49%. The plant employs 75 local residents and can produce up to 26 million bfm lumber when operating at peak capacity. *Kyah Industries Ltd. is a spin-off business which has the first opportunity to accept harvest rights from the band’s timber award. Some 75,500 cubic metres is harvested annually. This logging company employs 12 people and owns equipment. *Seasonal craft store
Witset RV Park & Campground
is opened seasonally to for tenting and RV's.
''Widzin Kwah Diyik Be Yikh''
(Widzin Kwah Canyon House Museum) offers tourists an interpretive look at the Witset Canyon and how the Wetsuwet'en people have used it and extracted the resources for thousands of years.
Kyah Food & Fuel
is a store dealing with gift sales, gas sales and food sales.

Other Wet'suwet'en communities

Other Wet'suwet'en communities include the

Burns Lake Indian Band Tsʼil Kaz Koh First Nation or the Burns Lake Indian Band is a Wetsuweten band government whose main community is located on Burns Lake, near the divide between the Bulkley and Nechako River basins, approximately 220 km west of Prince Ge ...

, Wet'suwet'en First Nation (formerly known as Broman Lake Band), and

Hagwilget Village Hagwilget or Hagwilgyet is a First Nations reserve community of the Wet'suwet'en people located on the lower Bulkley River just east of Hazelton in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The community's name means "well-dressed" as in "ostentati ...

References

External links

Witset Band OfficeOffice of the Wet'suwet'en
{{Authority control Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Wet'suwet'en Bulkley Valley