Pit B during excavation
The village of Gitlaxdzawk is situated on a small island in the Kitselas Canyon but is now connected to land by a dry gully created as a result of infill when the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad tunnels were constructed between 1910 and 1913.
The people of Gitlaxdzawk along with Gitsaex operated a toll system in the Kitselas Canyon in which all foreign travellers paid a tribute to Gitselasu chiefs in order to secure their passage. If the toll was not paid, large boulders would be thrown from the cliffs into the canoes of the trespassers.
Suffering high death rates from smallpox and other effects of immigrant contact, the Gitselasu abandoned Gitladzawk some time before 1866.
