Tsimshian
"SIM-shee-yan"
“Tsimshian” means “people inside the Skeena River.” In this historic hall, the Nisg̱a’a, Gitxsan, and Tsimshian people are referred to together as “Tsimshian.” In the past, anthropologists categorized these three distinct nations as one people because they speak related languages.
Population: Approximately 10,700 (as of 2016) Language: Sm'algya̱x, two dialects

“The graduation gown and cedar woven hat that I'm wearing have Tsimshian designs on them by my husband Mike Dangeli to symbolize the way that my family, community, and ancestors have guided me on my educational journey.”
—Dr. Mique’l Dangeli (Sm Łoodm ’Nüüsm) Ph.D., art historian, dancer, and choreographer
Image Credit: George Lawson

“The graduation gown and cedar woven hat that I'm wearing have Tsimshian designs on them by my husband Mike Dangeli to symbolize the way that my family, community, and ancestors have guided me on my educational journey.”
—Dr. Mique’l Dangeli (Sm Łoodm ’Nüüsm) Ph.D., art historian, dancer, and choreographer
Image Credit: George Lawson
IN TSIMSHIAN TERRITORY

Founders and Descendants
Metlakatla, Alaska
Each year the residents of Metlakatla commemorate the day in 1887 when more than 800 Tsimshian people left British Columbia to form a new community in Alaska. A parade is followed by games, feasting, and dancing.
Image Credit: Associated Press

Northwest Coast Hoops
Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Basketball is popular among Native people of the Northwest Coast. In the late 1950s, the All-Native Tournament began as an inter-village rivalry during wintertime, after seasonal work was over. Today the tournament is held annually in Tsimshian territory in Prince Rupert, where teams from across the coast face off to enthusiastic crowds.
Image credit: Spabb

Original Name
Lax Kw’alaams, British Columbia
In 1986, this town became the first aboriginal community in British Columbia to officially change its English name back to its original name—from Port Simpson to Lax Kw’alaams, or “place of the wild roses.”
Image credit: A. Davey
FROM THE COLLECTIONS: Tsimshian Drum

Drum
Drums keep rhythm at singing and dancing performances, especially at potlatches—large ceremonial feasts hosted by a chief. The complex design painted on the drum may represent a clan or family affiliation. An eagle at the center is circled by human figures—with the eagle’s tail forming one of the human heads.
This drum is from Tsimshian territory in northern British Columbia, Canada.
AMNH 16/748, acquired 1869–1890

Family Crest
Kitsumkalum, British Columbia
Tsimshian families are matrilineal—descent is traced through the mother’s line—and are organized into four clans. Each clan is represented by its crest, or symbolic animal: Eagle, Killer Whale, Wolf, and Raven. Click on the button below to listen to a raven’s call.
Glenn Bartley/AGE Fotostock

Family Crest
Kitsumkalum, British Columbia
Tsimshian families are matrilineal—descent is traced through the mother’s line—and are organized into four clans. Each clan is represented by its crest, or symbolic animal: Eagle, Killer Whale, Wolf, and Raven. Click on the button below to listen to a raven’s call.
Glenn Bartley/AGE Fotostock

Spirit Bear
Princess Royal Island, B.C.
On Princess Royal and Gibbell Islands, a fraction of the black bears are actually white, an inherited trait. The nearby Tsimshian communities of Gitga'at and Kitasoo/Xai'xais hold these white spirit bears as sacred. In 2016, most of the Great Bear Rainforest, which stretches across Tsimshian territory and beyond, was designated off-limits from logging, protecting the future of this bear and its vital forest.
Morales/AGE Fotostock
See more from the Museum's collection of Tsimshian, Gitxsan, and Nisg̱a'a (Tsimshianic) objects.
Image credit for lead photo: A. Davey