Arriving on Site

Date
1968
Photographer: MacDonald, George F.
Description

Arrival on site by CN train. July 8th 1968. 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.

Subject (Geographic)
Gitlaxdzawk
Keywords
Tsimshian
Gitselasu
Kitselas Canyon
Skeena River
Gitladzok
Archaeology
Fortress
Genre
Photographs
Type of resource
Still Image
Part of
George and Joanne MacDonald Northwest Coast Image Archive
Identifier
Gitlaxdzawk_018
Copyright
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Terms of use
See Source/owner terms of use.
Copyright owner(s)

© George F. MacDonald.

Source/owner terms of use
This image is to be used solely for the purpose of research or private study. Any use of the image for a purpose other than research or private study may require the authorization of the owner of the work in question.