Nisga'a

The Nisga’a homeland follows the Nass River through forested mountains towards the northern Pacific coast. Salmon and eulachon return to its waters, and river communities have long maintained ties with neighbours inland and on the coast. The Nisga’a call the river Lisims, and its places carry histories preserved by the houses and families of the valley.

Around the turn of the eighteenth century an eruption of the Tseax volcano transformed part of the valley. Lava flowed down the Tseax River and into the Nass, burying villages and changing the course of the water. Nisga’a oral histories remember the destruction and the many people who died; the dark lava beds remain a memorial to them. The precise date is uncertain, but the disaster left a deep mark on the history of the river and its people.