Tsimshian

Tsimshian, called Sm'algya̱x or “the true language” by its speakers, is the principal member of the Tsimshianic family, which most linguists treat as an independent family of North America. Its close relatives are Nisga'a and Gitksan of the upper Skeena and Nass rivers, from whose speech the coastal dialect split after Tsimshian groups moved down the Skeena to the Prince Rupert harbour and the neighbouring islands.

The language mirrors the ranked, matrilineal society of its speakers, distinguishing some twenty-seven terms for chief. Europeans first reached a Tsimshian village in 1787, and in 1834 the Hudson's Bay Company built its fort at Lax Kw'alaams, drawing nine Tsimshian chiefs to settle around it for the fur trade.