Our Way
17 March 2010
Posted in
About the Gitxsan -
Our Way
For the Gitxsan people, the Wilp and clan are the two most important units of society. A person is born into a particular Wilp and clan. The Gitxsan, like many other small societies, are well organized through kinship lines. Kinship organizes most aspects of life including property ownership, economic activity, residence patterns, education, marriage, inheritance, political activity and most social relationships. All of these spheres of existence are determined by one's kin group membership. The basic kinship unit is the Wilp or House. The Wilp is composed of a group of matrilineally-related kin. In some Wilps the biological relationships between all Wilp members is known. In other Wilps there may be two to six lineages between whom the relationship is no longer remembered. This is sometimes expressed as "maybe our grandmothers were sisters."
The Gitxsan have a matrilineal system with House members tracing lineage through their mother's side.
The traditional, hereditary system is active in the Gitxsan nation.
The Gitxsan have a certain way of looking at the world. It is different from the way the majority of newcomers to this land see the world. The Gitxsan world view affects the way we relate to the land, the way we live, the way we interact with other Gitxsan and our relationships with Lixs Giigyet (those who come from away).