Gitxaala

The Gitxaala (Tsimshian: Gitxaała, lit. 'People of the sea'), or Gitlaxmoon^[1][2] are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian people, located on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, and inhabit the village of Lax Klan. 'Gitlaxmoon ("people of the saltwater") in recognition of their coastal presence on the islands and inlets of this rugged piece of coastline. Gitxaała don’t refer to themselves as Gitlaxmoon or as Ts’msyen (meaning ‘Inside the Skeena River’).

Location of Gitxaala Nation

Stories recording this encounter tell of the acquisition of the hereditary name He'l by the Gispwudwada (Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) House (extended matrilineal family) of Ts'ibasaa, from an English ship's captain.

In the more recent period, one holder of the name He'l also assumed rights over the Gispwudwada chief name Seeks, which represents another Gitxaała Gispwudwada (Blackfish Clan) house group.

One holder of the title Ts'ibasaa was Joshua Ts'ibasaa, who died in 1936. The anthropologist Viola Garfield has published a detailed description of his mortuary potlatch.

Garfield also describes the House of Ts'ibasaa's genealogical merging with another Gispwudwada (Blackfish or Killerwhale clan) house group, the house of Nisweexs (Ts’ibasaa’s nephew) in the Ginadoiks tribe of Ts’msyens at Lax Kw'alaams (Port Simpson), B.C.

A large amount of information on the hereditary names, territories, and oral traditions of the Gitxaała people was collected in 1916 by William Beynon, a Ts’msyen chief and translator in the employ of the ethnologist Marius Barbeau.

The Gitxaała people primarily live in Lax Klan, their main winter (and now permanent) village, and is a large and thriving community. Its population in 1983 was 493. It has temporarily suspended treaty negotiations with the British Columbia government.

Other Gitxaała house-groups include:

• House of Ayaamax - Ganhada (Raven Clan)
• House of Dzagmgishaaytks – Ganhada (Raven clan)
• House of La'ooy – Ganhada (Raven clan)
• House of Ts'ibasaa – Gispwudwada (Blackfish or Killerwhale clan)

Prominent people of Gitxaała ancestry

• Joshua Ts’ibasaa, mansm’ooygidm Gitxaała (head chief of Gitxaała)
• William Ewart Gladstone Shakes (hereditary chief Seeks)
• Edward Gamble, hereditary chief (Ts'ibasaa, He'l, Seeks)
• Russell Gamble, hereditary chief and ANBT - basketball administrator (He'l)