Tsimshian First Nation Geographic Location View Regional Map

Tsimshian First Nations

Member Bands

Gitga'at Nation [Hartley Bay Band Council]
Location
: Main community is at Hartley Bay at the confluence of the Greenville and Douglas Channels, 145 km southeast of Prince Rupert on B.C.'s North Coast. (14 reserves on 520.3 hectares.)

Number of Band Members
: 658 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2007, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Kitasoo/Xai'xais Nation

Location
: Main village is at Klemtu on the east shore of Swindle Island on B.C.’s Central Coast (Nine reserves on 1,103.4 hectares.)

Number of Band Members
: 506 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2007, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Kitselas Indian Band (also Gitselasu)

Location
: Main village is Kitselas (also Kulspai), on the Skeena River just east of Terrace, in northwestern B.C. (Nine reserves on 1,103.4 hectares.)

Number of Band Members
: 510 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2007 , Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)


Kitsumkalum Band

Location
: 5 km west of Terrace, in northwestern B.C. (Three reserves on 560.7 hectares.)

Number of Band Members
: 651 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2007, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)


Metlakatla Band

Location
: 5 km west of Prince Rupert, on the Tsimshian (Tsimpsean) Peninsula, on B.C.'s North Coast. (16 reserves on 3,464.4 hectares.)


Number of Band Members : 757 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2007, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Background

Negotiating status
: Negotiating a comprehensive treaty settlement within the British Columbia Treaty Commission (BCTC) six-stage treaty process.

Negotiating affiliation
: Negotiating with Canada and British Columbia on behalf of its five member bands. Four member bands are unaffiliated with any tribal council while the Kitasoo/Xai'xais Nation is affiliated with the Oweekeno-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council. Two bands - Gitxaala Nation (aka Kitkatla First Nation) and the Lax Kw'alaams First Nation - withdrew from the Tsimshian Nation, as the treaty group was previously known. Lax Kw’alaams has since rejoined the treaty process and is negotiating independently with Canada and BC.

Location
: Member bands are located across a wide area on B.C.'s North Coast between Klemtu in the south, Prince Rupert in the north, and Terrace in the east.

Total Band Members
: 3,082 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2007, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Negotiations

The Tsimshian Tribal Council was created under the B.C. Society Act in 1988 as a central organization to coordinate important issues for all members of the seven bands that made up the Tsimshian Nation. The society was given added responsibility in 1994 when the seven member bands gave it authority to enter the B.C. treaty process and conduct negotiations for a comprehensive treaty agreement. All but one of the bands is listed by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada as unaffiliated. Only the most southerly of the bands, the Kitasoo, is affiliated - with the Oweekeno-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council.

The Tsimshian Tribal Council Society eventually reached Stage 4 of the six-stage process, the negotiation of an agreement in principle. However, talks were suspended in April of 2004, while the society dealt with internal matters.

Eventually a new body called Tsimshian First Nations was established and a revised Statement of Intent (SOI) submitted to BCTC. In December of 2004, BCTC recognized the amendment to the original SOI and accepted the Tsimshian First Nations SOI which excluded Gitxaala Nation and Lax Kw'alaams First Nation from the original treaty group. As a result, the Tsimshian First Nations treaty group represents five member bands - Gitga'at First Nation (Hartley Bay), Kitasoo/Xai'xais First Nation, Kitselas Indian Band, Kitsumkalum Band and Metlakatla Band. These bands represent about 3,000 members of the total Tsimshian population of 7,700.

The remaining two First Nations - Gitxaala Nation (formerly Kitkatla - population: approx. 1,700) and Lax Kw'alaams First Nation (population: approx. 3,000) - are no longer part of the original group.

Lax Kw'alaams submitted its SOI to BCTC in June of 2005 and is now in Stage 2 of the BCTC process, determining the readiness of the three parties - Canada, BC and the First Nation - to negotiate a treaty.

Other Activities

In recent years, member bands of the Tsimshian First Nations treaty group have been working toward land and resource use planning and economic initiatives with the provincial government.

The Tsimshian Accord is an agreement between the Tsimshian Nation, Canada and British Columbia committing the parties to negotiate interim measures agreements on forestry, aquaculture, eco-tourism and fisheries.

As a result of these efforts in the forestry sector, several forest and range agreements and a direct award were signed with Tsimshian bands including:

Forest/Range Agreements
  • October 2003: Lax Kw'alaams First Nation signed a forestry accommodation agreement with the Province for $6.85 million in revenue sharing and access to 785,000 cubic metres of timber.
  • October 2003: Gitga'at Nation signed an agreement with the Province for $1.57 million in revenue sharing and access to 290,000 cubic metres of timber.
  • December 2003: Metlakatla Band signed an agreement with the Province for $1.725 million in revenue sharing and access to 210,000 cubic metres of timber.
  • January 2004: Kitselas (Gitselasu) and Kitsumkalum bands signed an agreement with the Province for $1.2 million and $1.59 million of revenue sharing, respectively, and a direct invitation from the Minister of Forests to jointly apply for a forest licence of 300,000 cubic metres.
  • February 2004: Kitasoo/Xai'xais Nation signed an agreement with the Province for $1.21 million and access to 115,000 cubic metres of timber.
  • September 2004: Kitkatla (Gitselasu) First Nation signed an agreement with the Province for $3.985 million and access to 375,000 cubic metres of timber.
Direct Awards
  • January 2004: Kitselas (Gitselasu) and Kitsumkalum were invited to apply for forest licences without competition to 500,000 cubic metres of timber in the Terrace Timber Supply Area.
Other Initiatives

In May of 2003, the Tsimshian Nation received $737,352 from the governments of Canada and British Columbia to support cruise-ship tourism opportunities and the development of a shellfish aquaculture business.

In April 2004, the Province announced funding for the development of a Gitga'at First Nation tourism strategy and training program and for an integrated cultural and eco-tourism initiative with the Kitselas Indian Band (also Gitselasu) to re-establish elements of the traditional Kitselas village in the Kitselas Canyon.

In May 2007, the BC Government announced funding of $488,000 to Gitga'at Development Corporation to support development of the new Hartley Bay hydroelectric project to replace diesel-generated electricity with clean power.

Planned meetings

As dates are established for open public meetings, they will be publicized through the local media and on the British Columbia Treaty Commission Website Negotiations Calendar.