Tsimshian

Tsimshian

Tsimshian drumming in 1999
Total population
8,162
Regions with significant populations
Canada British Columbia	5,910[1]
United States Alaska	2,252[2]
Languages
English • Coast Tsimshian
Religion
Christianity (Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism, Methodism) • Animism

The Tsimshian^[4] (/ˈsɪmʃiən/; Tsimshian: Ts’msyan or Tsm'syen also once known as the Chemmesyans) are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace and Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island, the only reservation in Alaska.

The Tsimshian estimate there are 45,000 Tsimshian people and approximately 10,000 members are federally registered in eight First Nations communities (including the Kitselas, Kitsumkalum, Gitxaala, Gitga'at at Hartley Bay, and Kitasoo at Klemtu) Lax Kw'Alaams, and Metlakatla, BC. The latter two communities resulted in the colonial intersections of early settlers and consist of Tsimshian people belonging to the 'nine tribes.' The Tsimshian are one of the largest First Nations peoples in northwest British Columbia. Some Tsimshian migrated to the Annette Islands in Alaska, and today approximately 1,450 Alaska Tsimshian people are enrolled in the federally recognized Metlakatla Indian Community, sometimes also called the Annette Island Reserve. The Tsimshian honor the traditional Tlingit name of Taquan for this recent location. Some citizens of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska are of Tsimshian heritage.^[5]

Tsimshian society is matrilineal kinship-based, which means identity, clans and property pass through the maternal line. Their moiety-based societal structure is further divided into sub clans for certain lineages. The Tsimshian language has some 27 different terms for 'chief' likely because it is a stratified and ranked society.

Early Euro-Canadian anthropologists and linguists had classified the Gitxsan and Nisga'a as Tsimshian, because of apparent linguistic affinities. The three were all referred to as "Coast Tsimshian", even though some communities were not coastal. These three groups, however, are separate nations.