Anlagasimdeex : the history of a Gitxsan settlement

The recent discovery (1995) of a petroglyph located within the traditional territories of the Gitxsan people leads me to an investigation of settlement at this site and the relocation of the residents. Information about the settlement at Anlagasimdeex, located on the Babine River three kilometers west of the village of Gisaga'as, is researched in the ethnographic, historical, and archaeological literature. As well, interviews with Gitxsan and non-Gitxsan informants are conducted, to add to the description of Anlagasimdeex obtained from these secondary sources. Settlement at Anlagasimdeex is shown to have extended over a time period of at least two hundred years, and possibly much longer. The settlement was notable for its excellence as a salmon harvesting site, of which the petroglyph may be a graphic representation. The relocation of Gitxsan people from Anlagasimdeex, and, at a later date, from the village of Gisaga'as, during the period 1880-1950, is found to be result of a number of factors. Finally, village residency is understood to be of secondary importance to the overarching definitions of Gitxsan identity through adaawk, wilp, and wilnaa'tahl.--Page ii.