From the outset of contact, the Gitxsan have always favoured negotiation with B.C. and Canada when it came to disagreements regarding the traditional territories (see History under Who We Are). Until recently both levels of the Crown were unwilling to sit down together with the hereditary chiefs to negotiate on issues of ownership, jurisdiction, self-government and aboriginal title. No treaty has ever been signed between the Gitxsan and the Crown regarding joint jurisdictional arrangements on the traditional territories.

The most recent attempt by the Gitxsan to enter into trilateral negotiations with B.C. and Canada began in the mid-1970s. The hereditary chiefs conducted land title action research and at a Nov. 7, 1977 meeting, invited the provincial and federal governments to proceed with negotiations. They refused and this lack of respect resulted in a claim filed in 1984 against Canada and B.C. for aboriginal title over more than 57,000 square kilometers of traditional territory in northwestern B.C. that became known as the Delgamuukw action.

Ten years later, when the Delgamuukw action was on its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, the provincial government finally agreed to accept the Gitxsan’s offer to negotiate.

On June 13, 1994, the Gitxsan signed an agreement with B.C. to adjourn the Delgamuukw action to the Supreme Court of Canada for up to 18 months in order to negotiate with the provincial government on matters of ownership, jurisdiction, self-government and aboriginal title. This marked the beginning of trilateral treaty negotiations.

In front of more than 200 people at Tse Kyah Hall on the Hagwilget Reserve, Gitxsan hereditary chief Delgamuukw, and Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief Gisdaywa, signed the Accord of Recognition and Respect and witnessed as then B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt and four provincial ministers did the same.

Mas Gak (Don Ryan), who became Gitxsan chief negotiator, said at the time “we gave the provincial government an opportunity to get their act together after being elected. We decided they have the resources and are organized enough now to negotiate with us. But they must go beyond the rhetoric. We are not going to tolerate the attitude the province has displayed in other land title negotiations. It is not acceptable for the province to make offers to us about a reduced land base.”

That year the Gitxsan joined the B.C. Treaty Process and began negotiations with Canada and B.C. It soon became apparent that provincial negotiators did not have the mandate to make decisions on treaty-related issues and the B.C. government leaders were unwilling to make significant progress. The hereditary chiefs became frustrated that while treaty talks took imperceptible steps forward, resources continued to be stripped from the territories without their consent. Direct action on the land to stem the flow of unabated resource extraction took place in the summer and fall of 1995. In February of 1996 the province officially left the B.C. Treaty Process with the Gitxsan and Canada, saying they wanted to pursue the Delgamuukw court case through to the Supreme Court of Canada. With the province’s chair empty at the table, the B.C. Treaty Commission suspended treaty negotiations.

Once the Delgamuukw decision was handed down by the SCC Dec. 11, 1997, the Gitxsan once again made their preferences for negotiation over litigation known. Small progress was made and a bilateral Reconciliation Agreement was signed with the province in 1999. B.C. agreed to come back to the treaty table with the Gitxsan and Canada under the B.C. Treaty Process in 2001. Talks have been slow due to the B.C. Liberal government’s decisions to refuse to discuss governance issues and to hold a provincial vote on minority rights described as a treaty referendum.

Under the current treaty negotiation process, the Gitxsan table is divided into four files: Land, Language, Human Services and Economic Development.

Read the Gitksan-Carrier Declaration.

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