Wetʼsuwetʼen

{{Short description|First Nations people of British Columbia, Canada}}

{{About|the Wetʼsuwetʼen people|the pipeline project crossing their territory and related controversy|Coastal GasLink Pipeline|and|2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests}}

{{Infobox ethnic group|

| group = Wetʼsuwetʼen

| image = Moricetown Canyon Rapids.jpg

| total = approx. 3,160 (2019){{Cite web|url=http://www.bctreaty.ca/node/295|title=Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs | BC Treaty Commission|website=www.bctreaty.ca}}| popplace = Canada (British Columbia)

| rels = Indigenous religion

| langs = English, Babine-Witsuwitʼen

| related = Other Dene peoples
Especially Tsilhqotʼin, Dakelh, and Babine

}}

File:Hagwilget First Bridge.gif, Hagwilget, 1872]]

File:Wetsuweten.svg

File:Hereditary Chief Na Moks ceremonial clothing 8 December 2024.jpg

The Wetʼsuwetʼen are a First Nation who live on the Bulkley River and around Burns Lake, Broman Lake, and François Lake in the northwestern Central Interior of British Columbia.

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|date=June 2020}} 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.{{sfn|Mills|2011|p=77}} 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.[http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/dss/cultural/CHRREVIEW.pdf] See also Rocher Déboulé Range. The neighbouring Gitxsan people of the Hazelton area have a similar tale, though the village in their version is named Dimlahamid (Temlahan).{{cite book |title=Death Feast at Dimlahamid |first=Terry |last=Glavin}}{{cite book |title=The Downfall of Temlahan |first=Marius |last=Barbeau}}

Name

The word Wetʼsuwetʼen ({{IPAc-en|lang|audio=Wetʼsuwetʼen English pronunciation.mp3|w|ɛ|t|ˈ|s|oʊ|ɪ|t|ɪ|n}} {{Respell|wet|SOH|ih|tin}}) is spelled in numerous ways. Witsuwitʼen is the correct spelling in the writing system in general use.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} 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 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.

The endonym Wetʼsuwetʼen means "People of the Wa Dzun Kwuh River (Bulkley River)".{{Cite web |url=http://www.hagwilget.com/history.htm |title=A History of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Village of Tse-kya}}

Clans

In the traditional Wetʼsuwetʼen governance system, there are five clans, which are further subdivided into 13 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 Matrilineal, passed 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.{{Cite press release|title=Wetʼsuwetʼen Hereditary Chiefs Set the Record Straight in Response to Province of BC's Divide and Conquer Sharp Dealings|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/files/June13-2016-WHC-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf|date=June 15, 2016|language=en}}

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.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ 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

{| class="wikitable"

|+ 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

{| class="wikitable"

|+ 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{{nnbsp}}{{efn|See thumbnail image on right.}}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ 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

{| class="wikitable"

|+ 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.{{Cite web|title=Governance Structure|url=http://unistoten.camp/about/governance-structure/}}

Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation bands

= History =

In 1960, the Decker Lake, François Lake (later Nee-Tahi-Buhn), Maxim Lake{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} 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.{{Cite web|title=Nee Tahi Buhn|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/communities/nee-tahi-buhn|access-date=June 6, 2020|website=Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen}}

= Contemporary First Nation bands =

The following two First Nations are members of the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council:{{Cite web|title=Cstc.bc.ca|url=http://www.cstc.bc.ca/cstc/7/about+cstc|website=www.cstc.bc.ca}}

Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation - also known as Browman (or Broman) Lake, formerly as Browman Indian Lake Band, located outside of Burns Lake, British Columbia.{{Cite web|title=Browman Lake|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/communities/browman-lake|website=Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen|access-date=March 12, 2020}}
Ts'il Kaz Koh First Nation - also known as Burns Lake, located around Burns Lake, British Columbia.{{Cite web|title=Ts’il Kaz Koh (Burns Lake)|url=https://www.bcafn.ca/first-nations-bc/nechako/tsil-kaz-koh-burns-lake|access-date=June 6, 2020|website=British Columbia Assembly of First Nations}}

The following four First Nations are not affiliated with any tribal council:

Hagwilget Village First Nation{{Cite web|title=About | Hagwilget|url=https://www.hagwilget.com/|website=Hagwilget Village Co}} - located in the village of Hagwilget (meaning "place of the gentle or quiet people" in Gitxsan),{{Cite web|title=Investing with Hagwilget Village Council|url=https://www.britishcolumbia.ca/invest/communities/british-columbia/north-coast/first-nations/hagwilget-village-council/|access-date=March 12, 2020|website=British Columbia}} also known as Tse-kya ("base of rock"),{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} 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 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".
Skin Tyee First Nation - also known as the Skin Tyee Indian Band, also spelled "Skin Tayi", located near François Lake, in the Omineca Country to the west of the City of Prince George, British Columbia.{{Cite web|title=Skin Tyee|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/communities/skin-tyee|website=Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen|access-date=March 12, 2020}}
Witset First Nation{{Cite web|title=Witset First Nation | Moricetown Band Office | Tourism Witset|url=https://www.witset.ca/|website=Witset Band Office}} - also known as Moricetown Band, located in Witset, British Columbia.{{Cite web|title=Moricetown|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/communities/moricetown|website=Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen|access-date=March 12, 2020}}

Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen

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,{{Cite letter|subject=Re: MOU Meetings with Wet’suwet’en Clans and elected Chief and Band Councillors|recipient=Chief Maureen Luggi|author=Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs|date=May 11, 2020|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/files/May_11_2020_letter_to_BAND_COUNCILS.pdf}} 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.{{Cite news|last=Forester|first=Brett|date=March 10, 2020|title=The Delgamuukw decision: When the ‘invisible people’ won recognition|work=APTN National News|url=https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/the-delgamuukw-decision-when-the-invisible-people-won-recognition/|access-date=June 6, 2020}}{{Cite web|title=About Our Organization|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/office/about-us|access-date=June 6, 2020|website=Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen}}

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).{{Cite web|title=Office of the Wet'suwet'en Board of Directors|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/office/board-of-directors/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417234244/http://www.wetsuweten.com/office/board-of-directors/|archive-date=April 17, 2020|access-date=June 6, 2020|website=Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen}}

As of 2009, the organization was at Stage 4 of the BC Treaty Process.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

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".{{Cite press release|title=Memorandum of Understanding Between Canada, British Columbia and Wetʼsuwetʼen As agreed on February 29, 2020.|url=http://www.wetsuweten.com/files/SIGNED_MOU_BC,_CANADA_AND_WETSUWETEN_MAY_14,_2020.pdf|date=May 14, 2020|language=en}} 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.

Notes

References

=Citations=

=Sources=

{{cite book |last1=Mills |first1=Antonia |title=Eagle Down Is Our Law: Witsuwit'en Law, Feasts, and Land Claims |year=2011 |publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver |isbn=0774805137 }}

External links

[http://www.wetsuweten.com The office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen]

Category:Athabaskan peoples