The Gispaxlo'ots are one of the 14 tribes of the

Tsimshian The Tsimshian (; ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terrace and ...

nation in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, and one of the nine of those tribes making up the "Nine Tribes" of the lower

Skeena River The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada (after the Fraser River). Since ancient times, the Skeena has been an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan—whose na ...

resident at Lax Kw'alaams (a.k.a. Port Simpson), B.C. The name ''Gispaxlo'ots'' means literally "people of the place of elderberries." Their traditional territory includes an area on the Skeena River between present-day

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 ...

and

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

. Since 1834, when a Hudson's Bay Company trading fort was established at Lax Kw'alaams, they have been based there. Their chief Ligeex permitted the HBC to build on Gispaxlo'ots territory. Traditionally, the Gispaxlo'ots have been the most powerful of the Tsimshian tribes, due to the exploits and wealth of Ligeex, a great trading chief. As part of the negotiations with the HBC, he arranged in 1832 for his daughter Sudaał to marry Dr. John Frederick Kennedy, the first HBC partner of the fort. The House of Ligeex belongs to the

Laxsgiik The Laxsgiik (variously spelled) is the name for the Eagle "clan" (phratry) in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to identically named groups among the nei ...

(Eagle clan). Other house-groups (extended matrilineal families) of the Gispaxlo'ots include: * House of Spooxs --

(Eagle clan) (this house has members associated today with the

Kitsumkalum Kitsumkalum is an original tribe/ galts'ap (community) of the Tsimshian Nation. Kitsumkalum is one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian nation in British Columbia, Canada. Kitsumkalum and is also the name of one of their Indian Reserve just west of t ...

community) * House of Suhalaayt --

Gispwudwada {{Inline citations, date=December 2024 The Gispwudwada or Gisbutwada (variously spelled) is the name for the Killerwhale "clan" ( phratry) in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered a ...

(Killerwhale clan) (a

totem pole Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...

belonging to this house was standing in Lax Kw'alaams as recently as the 1930s) * House of T'amks --

(headed by Arthur Wellington Clah until his death, 1916) * House of 'Wiigyet—Gispwudada (Killerwhale clan) In 1935

William Beynon William Beynon (1888–1958), also known as Gusgai'in or Gusgain, was a Canadian hereditary chief of the Tsimshian Nation and an oral historian. He served as an ethnographer, translator, and linguistic consultant to many anthropologists who s ...

recorded that Gispaxlo'ots people in Lax Kw'alaams included 18 members of the

(Killerwhale clan) (2 house-groups), 24 members of the Ganhada (Raven) (1 house-group), and 63 members of the

(Eagle) (6 house-groups).

Prominent Gispaxlo'ots people

* Paul Legaic, Legaic V, hereditary chief and merchant trader * Rev. William Henry Pierce, missionary and memoirist * Henry W. Tate, oral historian * Arthur Wellington Clah, head man and diarist, taught Father Duncan sm'algyax * Legaic IV, known as Old Legaic, the pinnacle of chiefly dynasty * Elizabeth Diiks Lawson, sister to Legaic V, mother of Sgagweet IV * John C. Tate, oral historian, * Xoop, in time of Legaic IV, acted as regent for the child chief :Current heads of the tribe: * Russell Mather Sr., Chief ''Neesa Walp'' (House of Neesa Walp) * Alex Campbell Sr., Chief Gitxoon (House of Gitxoon) * Wayne Ryan

Sources

* Barbeau, Marius (1950) ''Totem Poles.'' 2 vols. (Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada. * Garfield, Viola E. (1939) "Tsimshian Clan and Society." ''University of Washington Publications in Anthropology,'' vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 167–340. * McDonald, James A. (2003) ''People of the Robin: The Tsimshian of Kitsumkalum.'' CCI Press. Tsimshian