Maggie Good (Less-say-gu) - Histories, Territories and Laws of the Kitwancool: , with a New Foreword by the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs

Histories, Territories and Laws of the Kitwancool, second edition

First edition published 1959

Published by the Royal BC Museum, 675 Belleville Street,

Victoria, British Columbia, V 8 W 9 W 2, Canada.

The Royal BC Museum is located on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations). We extend our appreciation for the opportunity to live and learn on this territory.

Cover and interior design and typesetting by Lara Minja/Lime Design Cover photo of snow-covered Gitanyow totem poles, Joel Starlund, 2010. , Farhan Umedaly/VoVo Productions 2021.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Title: Histories, territories and laws of the Kitwancool / as told by the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs to Constance Cox and B.W. McKilvington (Wee-ks-se-guh); edited and with an introduction by Wilson Duff with the Royal BC Museum.

Names: Duff, Wilson, 19251976, editor, writer of introduction. | Cox, Constance, 18811960. | McKilvington, B. W. | Royal British Columbia Museum, issuing body.

Description: Second edition / with a new foreword by the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs.

Identifiers: Canadiana 20220155674 | ISBN 9780772680327 (softcover)

Subjects: LCSH : Gitanyow (First Nation)History. | LCSH : Gitanyow (First Nation)Social life and customs. | CSH : First NationsBritish ColumbiaGitanyowHistory. | CSH : First NationsBritish ColumbiaGitanyowSocial life and customs.

Classification: LCC E 78. B 9 H 57 2022 | DDC 305.897/4128071185dc23

THE TERRITORIES OF THE KITWANCOOL.

FRED GOOD ( NEAS-A-GA-NAWS ) MAP, UNDATED.

PLATE 1. KITWANCOOL VILLAGE, 1910.

G.T. EMMONS PHOTOGRAPH. RBCM PN04055.

In the year 2022, some 63 years following the original publication of this book, our Huwilp, our Simgigyetm Gitanyow (Kitwancool Chiefs) are still here, still grounded in the teachings of those featured in the 1959 publication, and still fighting to preserve our way of life, our territory in a sustainable manner, and the perseverance of our laws in the face of the relentless assault of colonialism in the form of the Indian Act, land dispossession and theft of resources from the Laxyip.

For the Kitwancoolnow reclaiming our name, the Gitanyowour histories, territories and laws are the backbone of our culture as Gitksan people. Whether through research and writing, negotiation, litigation, direct action, or policy development, the teachings in this book still guide the work of the Simgigyetm Gitanyow. Today, the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs Office serves as the administrative body for the Simgigyetm Gitanyow, and for the Huwilp, on whose behalf they serve.

The Chiefs names included in this book have since been passed on to the next generation, as they have for millennia. The names will live on, as do the responsibilities to the land, referred to as Gwelx yeenst. As the new generation steps forward to carry on the traditions of the Gitanyow, we do so in the face of a climate crisis brought on by global colonialism and the industries which seek economic development at the cost of future generations rights to the fish, wildlife, fresh water, medicines, mushrooms and berries which have sustained our people since time immemorial.

Reflecting back on the actions our former Chiefs and Matriarchs took to document the histories, territories and laws of the Kitwancool in 1959 in partnership with the Royal BC Museum, it is this form of recognition of our system of laws and land tenure that is missing today from the ongoing Crown denial of Gitanyow title to the land. It is this missing recognition which has forced the Gitanyow to the courts to seek recognition, despite the recent adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by both the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.

It can only be hoped and strived for, through continued education and sharing of the knowledge contained herein, that when our children and grandchildren republish this book in some future form as yet unknown, they will be able to write a different foreword, based on a new path forged with non-Indigenous society and governments.

Dadilst Ayookxhl Gitanyow: Our laws are still alive.

Naa dim sit yaakwishl wila lawhl hla gyetidhl Gitanyow: Our system will not change.

Daxgyethl gan dadilsthl lax Yip: We are alive on the land.

Sim git litxwhl hla gyet ihl Gitanyow ehl lax yipdiit: Gitanyow stand strong on their lands.

Giinamehl UNDRIP ginax dim yuuxm dim dip gwingaa dehl wila dildilstm: UNDRIP has given a way for us to show we are still alive.

GITANYOW HEREDITARY CHIEFS

KITWANGA, BC

NOVEMBER 2021

PLATE 2. THE CHIEFS WHO RECORDED THE HISTORIES, 1958.

(Front row, left to right): Chief Wee-kha (Mr. Ernest Smith), Chief Less-say-gu (Mrs. Maggie Good), Mrs. Constance Cox (interpreter). Second row (left to right): Chief Gu-gu-gow (Mr. Peter Williams), Chief Gam-gak-men-muk (Mr. Walter Derrick), Chief Gam-lak-yeltqu (Mr. Solomon Good). Rear row (left to right): Chief Neas-a-ga-naws (Mr. Fred Good), Chief Wee-ks-se-guh (Mr. B.W. McKilvington).

B.W. MCKILVINGTON PHOTOGRAPH. RBCM PN03930-B.

The authors of this book are the Kitwancool themselves, for it contains their own statement of what they consider to be their histories, territories, and laws. It was their idea in the beginning that such a publication should be produced. The subjects dealt with are those which they consider important enough to include. The manner of expression, as closely as possible, follows their own. As editor, I have attempted to transfer their statements to the printed page with as little alteration as possible. I have also thought it desirable to add this Preface and a brief Introduction in order to make the material as meaningful as possible for the general reader.

The publication of this book is one step in the fulfilment of an agreement between the Kitwancool and the Provincial Museum of British Columbia. It is appropriate to begin by describing this agreement and telling how it came about.

In the spring of 1958 Wilson Duff and Michael Kew, representing the Provincial Museum and the British Columbia Totem Pole Preservation Committee, visited Kitwancool to negotiate the removal of a small number of totem-poles for permanent preservation. Discussions with representatives of the Kitwancool had been carried on in previous years, but up to that time no totem-pole had ever been removed from the village. The Kitwancool chiefs did not consider it proper, under any circumstances, to sell their totem-poles outright.