Nisga'a

The Nisga’a /ˈnɪsɡɑː/, often formerly spelled Nishga and spelled in the Nisga’a language as Nisg̱a’a (pronounced [nisqaʔ]), are an Indigenous people of Canada in British Columbia. They reside in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. The name is a reduced form of [naːsqaʔ], which is a loan from Tongass Tlingit, where it means "people of the Nass River".

Nisga’a culture

Society

Nisga’a society is organized into four tribes:

Each tribe is further sub-divided into house groups – extended families with same origins. Some houses are grouped together into clans – grouping of Houses with same ancestors. Example:

Food

The Nisga’a harvested "beach food" all year round. This would include razor clams, mussels, oysters, limpets, scallops, abalone, fish, seaweed and other seafood that could be harvested from the shore. Eating too much beach food was believed to make you sick. However salmon, cod, char, pike, trout and other fresh water fish were harvested in the streams. Men went out in oceangoing canoes to hunt seals, whales, fish and sea otters. The blubber was often traded with other tribes as well as fish oil. Mountain goat, marmot, game birds and more were hunted in the forests. The meat was roasted or boiled. Fish and sea mammals flesh was eaten frozen, boiled or roasted. The heads of a type of cod which were half eaten by sharks were boiled into a soup which kept colds at bay. Dried fish, seal oil, fish oil, blubber and cedar were traded with inland tribes.