Nisga'a people
| Nisg̱a’a Nation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Autonomous area | ||
|
||
| Country | Canada | |
| Province | British Columbia | |
| Nisga'a Final Agreement (Land-claim settlement) | 11 May 2000 | |
| Capital | Gitlax̱t'aamiks (de facto) | |
| Villages | Gitlax̱t'aamiks (New Aiyansh), Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City), Lax̱g̱alts’ap (Greenville), Ging̱olx (Kincolith) | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Nisga'a Lisims Government | |
| • Body | • Wilp Si’ayuukhl Nisga’a (central legislature, composed of executives from both levels) • Central executive • Village executives |
|
| • President | Eva Clayton | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 2,000 km2 (800 sq mi) | |
| Population | ||
| • Total | 6,000 | |
| • Density | 3.0/km2 (7.8/sq mi) | |
| Ethnic group | ||
| • Nisg̱a’a | 7595 | |
| Languages | ||
| • Nisg̱a’a | 11% | |
| • English | Many if not all | |
| Time zone | PST (UTC−8) | |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC−7) | |
| Postal code prefix | V0 | |
| Area code | 250 | |
The Nisga’a /ˈnɪsɡɑː/, often formerly spelled Nishga and spelled in the Nisga’a language as Nisg̱a’a (pronounced [nisqaʔ]), are an Indigenous people of Canada in British Columbia. They reside in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. The name is a reduced form of [naːsqaʔ], which is a loan from Tongass Tlingit, where it means "people of the Nass River".
The official languages of Nisg̱a’a are the Nisg̱a’a language and English.
Nisga’a society is organized into four tribes:
Each tribe is further sub-divided into house groups – extended families with same origins. Some houses are grouped together into clans – grouping of Houses with same ancestors. Example:
The Nisga’a harvested "beach food" all year round. This would include razor clams, mussels, oysters, limpets, scallops, abalone, fish, seaweed and other seafood that could be harvested from the shore. The people believed that eating too much beach food would make a person sick. They also harvested salmon, cod, char, pike, trout and other fresh water fish from the streams.
In addition, men rowed out in oceangoing canoes to hunt seals, whales, fish and sea otters. They often traded blubber with other tribes, as well as fish oil. They hunted mountain goat, marmot, game birds and more in the forests. The women cooked and processed the meat and fish, roasting or boiling the former. They ate fish and sea mammals in frozen, boiled, dried or roasted form. The heads of a type of cod, often gathered half eaten by sharks, were boiled into a soup that helped prevent colds. The Nisga′a also traded dried fish, seal oil, fish oil, blubber and cedar were traded with inland tribes.
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Wikipedia