This article is about the Wetʼsuwetʼen people. For the language they speak, see Babine-Witsuwitʼen language. For the pipeline project crossing their territory and related controversy, see Coastal GasLink Pipeline.
The Wetʼsuwetʼen's bridge across the Bulkley River, Hagwilget, 1872Map showing the rough location of traditional Wetʼsuwetʼen territory in western Canada
The Wetʼsuwetʼen are a branch of the Dakelh or Carrier people, and in combination with the Babine people have been referred to as the Western Carrier.[citation needed] They speak Witsuwitʼen, a dialect of the Babine-Witsuwitʼen language which, like its sister language Carrier, is a member of the Athabaskan family.
Their oral history, called kungax, recounts that their ancestral village, Dizkle or Dzilke, once stood upstream from the Bulkley Canyon.[3] This cluster of cedar houses on both sides of the river is said to have been abandoned because of an omen of impending disaster. The exact location of the village has been lost.[4] The neighbouring Gitxsan people of the Hazelton area have a similar tale, though the village in their version is named Dimlahamid (Temlahan).[5][6]
In the traditional Wetʼsuwetʼen governance system, there are five clans, which are further subdivided into thirteen house groups. Each house group is led by a single house chief, and also includes several sub chiefs (also referred to as "wing chiefs"). Hereditary chief names (both house chiefs and sub chiefs) are usually passed on to a successor chosen by the incumbent name holder, more often than not through family lines. Clan membership is transmitted matrilineally, from mother to children. In Witsuwit'en, male hereditary chiefs are referred to as dinï zeʼ, and female hereditary chiefs are referred to as tsʼakë zeʼ.[7]
The house groups and house chiefs of each of the five clans, as well as the English names of the current house chiefs, can be found in the chart below.
Gilseyhu (Big Frog Clan)
House group
Translation
House chief name
Incumbent
Yex Tʼsa Witʼantʼ
Thin House
Goohlaht
vacant
Yex Tʼsa Wilkʼus
Dark House
Knedebeas
Warner William
Kayex
Birchbark House
Samooh
Herb Naziel
Laksilyu (Small Frog Clan)
House group
Translation
House chief name
Incumbent
Kwen Beegh Yex
House Beside the Fire
Wah Tah Kwets
vacant
Gʼen Egh La Yex
House of Many Eyes
Hagwilnegh
Ron Mitchell
Tsee Kʼal Kʼe Yex
House on a Flat Rock
Wah Tah Kʼeght
vacant
Tsayu (Beaver Clan)
House group
Translation
House chief name
Incumbent
Djakanyex
Beaver House
Kweese
vacant
Tsa Kʼen Yex
Rafters on Beaver House
Naʼmoks
John Ridsdale
Laksamshu (Fireweed and Owl Clan)
House group
Translation
House chief name
Incumbent
Medzeyex
Owl House
Kloum Khun
Alphonse Gagnon
Tsalyex
Sun House
Smogelgem
Warner Naziel
Gitdumden (Wolf and Bear Clan)
House group
Translation
House chief name
Incumbent
Cassyex
Grizzly House
Woos
Frank Alec
Kalyexwenits
House in the Middle of Many
Gisdayʼwa
Fred Tom
Anaskasi
Where it Lies Blocking the Trail
Madeek
Jeff Brown
*Unist'ot'en Camp Group is affiliated with the Yex T'sa Wilk'us (Dark House) under the Gilseyhu (Big Frog) Clan [8]
Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation bandsEdit
HistoryEdit
In 1960, the Decker Lake, François Lake (later Nee-Tahi-Buhn), Maxim Lake[citation needed] and Skin Tyee Bands merged to form the Omineca Band. In 1984, the Omineca Band divided into the Nee-Tahi-Buhn and Browman (or Broman) Lake Bands, the latter of which later became Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation. In 2000, the Skin Tyee Band separated from the Nee-Tahi-Buhn Band.[9]
Nee-Tahi-Buhn Band - formerly called François Lake Tribe. Nee-Tahi-Buhn is the Babine-Witsuwitʼen name for François Lake, and means "it fills at one end and empties at the other".
The Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen, also known as the Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen or the OW, is a political organization governed by the hereditary chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen people, based in Smithers, British Columbia. The Office takes part in the BC Treaty Process through the two Indian Act band governments (Hagwilget and Witset First Nations) which contain the 13 hereditary chieftaincies. The Office is not a tribal council, nor a traditional governing body, but rather a non-profit society,[18] directed by a Board of Directors, with the goal of being a central office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Nation. It was founded as an independent office in 1994, after the splitting of the Gitxsan-Wet’suwet’en Tribal Council, which had represented the two nations during Delgamuukw v British Columbia.[19][20]
As of April 2020, the Board of Directors was composed of seven house chiefs (Naʼmoks, Knedebeas, Madeek, Samooh, Kloum Khun, Wah Tah Kʼeght, and Hagwilnegh).[21]
As of 2009, the organization was at Stage 4 of the BC Treaty Process.[citation needed]
On May 14, 2020, the governments of Canada and British Columbia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en, in which the Canadian and B.C. governments "recognize that Wet’suwet’en rights and title are held by Wet’suwet’en houses under their system of governance".[22] Following concerns by leaders of the band councils, the hereditary chiefs clarified that the Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen is not a governing body, and that the authority of the band councils under the MOU would not be diminished.[18]
^Witsuwitʼen is the correct spelling in the writing system in general use.[citation needed] In non-technical publications it is usually misspelled as Witsʼuwitʼen, Witʼsuwitʼen, Wetsʼuwetʼen, or Wetʼsuwetʼen due to the difficulty of distinguishing ejective [ts] from plain [ts]. Official spellings with <tʼs> are used in the names of the Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation and the Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen. In point of fact the [ts] is not ejective. Older spellings include Hotsotʼen and Hwotsotʼen. Whutsowhutʼen is the Carrier name in the Carrier Linguistic Committee writing system in general use for that language.
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
^"Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs | BC Treaty Commission". www.bctreaty.ca.
^"A History of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Village of Tse-kya".
^"Wetʼsuwetʼen Hereditary Chiefs Set the Record Straight in Response to Province of BC's Divide and Conquer Sharp Dealings" (PDF) (Press release). June 15, 2016.
^"Investing with Hagwilget Village Council". British Columbia. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
^"Skin Tyee". Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
^"Witset First Nation | Moricetown Band Office | Tourism Witset". Witset Band Office.
^"Moricetown". Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
^ abWet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs (May 11, 2020). "Re: MOU Meetings with Wet'suwet'en Clans and elected Chief and Band Councillors" (PDF). Letter to Chief Maureen Luggi.
^Forester, Brett (March 10, 2020). "The Delgamuukw decision: When the 'invisible people' won recognition". APTN National News. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
^"About Our Organization". Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
^"Office of the Wet'suwet'en Board of Directors". Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen. from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
^"Memorandum of Understanding Between Canada, British Columbia and Wetʼsuwetʼen As agreed on February 29, 2020" (PDF) (Press release). May 14, 2020.
SourcesEdit
Mills, Antonia (2011). Eagle Down Is Our Law: Witsuwit'en Law, Feasts, and Land Claims. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN0774805137.
wetʼsuwetʼen, this, article, about, people, language, they, speak, babine, witsuwitʼen, language, pipeline, project, crossing, their, territory, related, controversy, coastal, gaslink, pipeline, english, listen, first, nation, live, bulkley, river, around, bur. This article is about the Wetʼsuwetʼen people For the language they speak see Babine Witsuwitʼen language For the pipeline project crossing their territory and related controversy see Coastal GasLink Pipeline The Wetʼsuwetʼen a English w ɛ t ˈ s oʊ ɪ t ɪ n listen wet SOH ih tin are a First Nation who live on the Bulkley River and around Burns Lake Broman Lake and Francois Lake in the northwestern Central Interior of British Columbia The endonym Wetʼsuwetʼen means People of the Wa Dzun Kwuh River Bulkley River 2 WetʼsuwetʼenTotal populationapprox 3 160 2019 1 Regions with significant populationsCanada British Columbia LanguagesEnglish Babine WitsuwitʼenReligiontraditional beliefs clarification needed Related ethnic groupsOther Dene peoplesEspecially Tsilhqotʼin Dakelh and BabineThe Wetʼsuwetʼen s bridge across the Bulkley River Hagwilget 1872Map showing the rough location of traditional Wetʼsuwetʼen territory in western CanadaThe Wetʼsuwetʼen are a branch of the Dakelh or Carrier people and in combination with the Babine people have been referred to as the Western Carrier citation needed They speak Witsuwitʼen a dialect of the Babine Witsuwitʼen language which like its sister language Carrier is a member of the Athabaskan family Their oral history called kungax recounts that their ancestral village Dizkle or Dzilke once stood upstream from the Bulkley Canyon 3 This cluster of cedar houses on both sides of the river is said to have been abandoned because of an omen of impending disaster The exact location of the village has been lost 4 The neighbouring Gitxsan people of the Hazelton area have a similar tale though the village in their version is named Dimlahamid Temlahan 5 6 Contents 1 Clans 2 Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation bands 2 1 History 2 2 Contemporary First Nation bands 3 Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 6 1 Citations 6 2 Sources 7 External linksClans EditIn the traditional Wetʼsuwetʼen governance system there are five clans which are further subdivided into thirteen house groups Each house group is led by a single house chief and also includes several sub chiefs also referred to as wing chiefs Hereditary chief names both house chiefs and sub chiefs are usually passed on to a successor chosen by the incumbent name holder more often than not through family lines Clan membership is transmitted matrilineally from mother to children In Witsuwit en male hereditary chiefs are referred to as dini zeʼ and female hereditary chiefs are referred to as tsʼake zeʼ 7 The house groups and house chiefs of each of the five clans as well as the English names of the current house chiefs can be found in the chart below Gilseyhu Big Frog Clan House group Translation House chief name IncumbentYex Tʼsa Witʼantʼ Thin House Goohlaht vacantYex Tʼsa Wilkʼus Dark House Knedebeas Warner WilliamKayex Birchbark House Samooh Herb Naziel Laksilyu Small Frog Clan House group Translation House chief name IncumbentKwen Beegh Yex House Beside the Fire Wah Tah Kwets vacantGʼen Egh La Yex House of Many Eyes Hagwilnegh Ron MitchellTsee Kʼal Kʼe Yex House on a Flat Rock Wah Tah Kʼeght vacant Tsayu Beaver Clan House group Translation House chief name IncumbentDjakanyex Beaver House Kweese vacantTsa Kʼen Yex Rafters on Beaver House Naʼmoks John Ridsdale Laksamshu Fireweed and Owl Clan House group Translation House chief name IncumbentMedzeyex Owl House Kloum Khun Alphonse GagnonTsalyex Sun House Smogelgem Warner Naziel Gitdumden Wolf and Bear Clan House group Translation House chief name IncumbentCassyex Grizzly House Woos Frank AlecKalyexwenits House in the Middle of Many Gisdayʼwa Fred TomAnaskasi Where it Lies Blocking the Trail Madeek Jeff Brown Unist ot en Camp Group is affiliated with the Yex T sa Wilk us Dark House under the Gilseyhu Big Frog Clan 8 Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation bands EditHistory Edit In 1960 the Decker Lake Francois Lake later Nee Tahi Buhn Maxim Lake citation needed and Skin Tyee Bands merged to form the Omineca Band In 1984 the Omineca Band divided into the Nee Tahi Buhn and Browman or Broman Lake Bands the latter of which later became Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation In 2000 the Skin Tyee Band separated from the Nee Tahi Buhn Band 9 Contemporary First Nation bands Edit The following two First Nations are members of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council 10 Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation also known as Browman or Broman Lake formerly as Browman Indian Lake Band located outside of Burns Lake British Columbia 11 Ts il Kaz Koh First Nation also known as Burns Lake located around Burns Lake British Columbia 12 The following four First Nations are not affiliated with any tribal council Hagwilget Village First Nation 13 located in the village of Hagwilget meaning place of the gentle or quiet people in Gitxsan 14 also known as Tse kya base of rock citation needed on the east side of the Bulkley Canyon near Hazelton British Columbia about 325 kilometres inland from the coast Nee Tahi Buhn Band formerly called Francois Lake Tribe Nee Tahi Buhn is the Babine Witsuwitʼen name for Francois Lake and means it fills at one end and empties at the other Skin Tyee First Nation also known as the Skin Tyee Indian Band also spelled Skin Tayi located near Francois Lake in the Omineca Country to the west of the City of Prince George British Columbia 15 Witset First Nation 16 also known as Moricetown Band located in Witset British Columbia 17 Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen EditThe Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen also known as the Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen or the OW is a political organization governed by the hereditary chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen people based in Smithers British Columbia The Office takes part in the BC Treaty Process through the two Indian Act band governments Hagwilget and Witset First Nations which contain the 13 hereditary chieftaincies The Office is not a tribal council nor a traditional governing body but rather a non profit society 18 directed by a Board of Directors with the goal of being a central office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Nation It was founded as an independent office in 1994 after the splitting of the Gitxsan Wet suwet en Tribal Council which had represented the two nations during Delgamuukw v British Columbia 19 20 As of April 2020 the Board of Directors was composed of seven house chiefs Naʼmoks Knedebeas Madeek Samooh Kloum Khun Wah Tah Kʼeght and Hagwilnegh 21 As of 2009 the organization was at Stage 4 of the BC Treaty Process citation needed On May 14 2020 the governments of Canada and British Columbia signed a Memorandum of Understanding MOU with the hereditary chiefs of the Wet suwet en in which the Canadian and B C governments recognize that Wet suwet en rights and title are held by Wet suwet en houses under their system of governance 22 Following concerns by leaders of the band councils the hereditary chiefs clarified that the Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen is not a governing body and that the authority of the band councils under the MOU would not be diminished 18 See also EditDelgamuukw v British Columbia 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests Killing of Jared LowndesNotes Edit Witsuwitʼen is the correct spelling in the writing system in general use citation needed In non technical publications it is usually misspelled as Witsʼuwitʼen Witʼsuwitʼen Wetsʼuwetʼen or Wetʼsuwetʼen due to the difficulty of distinguishing ejective ts from plain ts Official spellings with lt tʼs gt are used in the names of the Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation and the Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen In point of fact the ts is not ejective Older spellings include Hotsotʼen and Hwotsotʼen Whutsowhutʼen is the Carrier name in the Carrier Linguistic Committee writing system in general use for that language References EditCitations Edit Wet suwet en Hereditary Chiefs BC Treaty Commission www bctreaty ca A History of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Village of Tse kya Mills 2011 p 77 1 See also Rocher Deboule Range Glavin Terry Death Feast at Dimlahamid Barbeau Marius The Downfall of Temlahan Wetʼsuwetʼen Hereditary Chiefs Set the Record Straight in Response to Province of BC s Divide and Conquer Sharp Dealings PDF Press release June 15 2016 Governance Structure Nee Tahi Buhn Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Retrieved June 6 2020 Cstc bc ca www cstc bc ca Browman Lake Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Retrieved March 12 2020 Ts il Kaz Koh Burns Lake British Columbia Assembly of First Nations Retrieved June 6 2020 About Hagwilget Hagwilget Village Co Investing with Hagwilget Village Council British Columbia Retrieved March 12 2020 Skin Tyee Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Retrieved March 12 2020 Witset First Nation Moricetown Band Office Tourism Witset Witset Band Office Moricetown Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Retrieved March 12 2020 a b Wet suwet en Hereditary Chiefs May 11 2020 Re MOU Meetings with Wet suwet en Clans and elected Chief and Band Councillors PDF Letter to Chief Maureen Luggi Forester Brett March 10 2020 The Delgamuukw decision When the invisible people won recognition APTN National News Retrieved June 6 2020 About Our Organization Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Retrieved June 6 2020 Office of the Wet suwet en Board of Directors Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Archived from the original on April 17 2020 Retrieved June 6 2020 Memorandum of Understanding Between Canada British Columbia and Wetʼsuwetʼen As agreed on February 29 2020 PDF Press release May 14 2020 Sources Edit Mills Antonia 2011 Eagle Down Is Our Law Witsuwit en Law Feasts and Land Claims Vancouver UBC Press ISBN 0774805137 External links EditThe office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen 55 15 00 N 127 40 00 W 55 25000 N 127 66667 W 55 25000 127 66667 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wetʼsuwetʼen amp oldid 1164590053, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
