Nisga’a

The Block

Blockmaker Stephanie Crunkhorn designed and created this killer whale in the Northwest Coast Native art style to represent her people. Using needlepoint stitches in the traditional colours of black (as the primary) and red (as the secondary colour), the block replicates flatform design and careful use of ovoids, formlines and filled spaces that typify the art-form, most often found in wood carving and painted forms. The killer whale represents one of the main tribes of the Nisga’a nation.

Cultural Profile

The Nisga’a (spelled Nisgha in earlier times) call themselves Nisqu?a in their own language, which is part of the Tsimshian linguistic group. They lived in the Pacific Northwest along 380 kilometres of the Nass River, the third largest salmon producing river in British Columbia. The area also supplied oolichan, a smelt relative that was known as “candlefish” because when it was dried, it retained enough oil to burn like a candle. The watershed provided its inhabitants with the food, fur, tools, plants, medicine, timber and fuel that enabled the Nisga’a to develop a sophisticated culture.

Present in these lands for more than 10,000 years, the Nisga’a are comprised of four tribes orPdeek – Gisk’ahaast (Killer Whale), Laxgibuu (Wolf), Ganada (Raven) and Laxsgiik (Eagle). Every Nisga’a belongs to a tribal house, or Wilp. Traditionally, they lived in large, one-room, post and beam longhouses in permanent villages, using smaller homes at their fishing camps and hunting camps.

Nisga’a used many different kinds of materials to make their clothing, including furs and leathers, the inner bark of many different kinds of trees, some roots, and wool from mountain goats. To protect their skin from hot summer sun, wind, and biting insects, Nisga’a rubbed their skin with a mixture of soot and either oolichan grease or bear fat.

Approximately 2,500 Nisga’a live in the villages of Gingolx (Kincolith), Lakalzap (Greenville),Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City) and Gitlakdamiks (New Aiyansh), in B.C., while another 3,500 live across Canada and around the world.

Sponsor: Mary Ellen McIntosh, from Stuart McIntosh