THE LAND Around Kispiox, British Columbia

The mountain ranges which surround the Kispiox Valley include the Hazelton Mountains to the west and the Babine Range to the east.

South of New Hazelton is the Rocher deBoule Range with the soaring Hagwilget Peak overlooking the whole area. Southwest of Kispiox village is the Hazelton Peak and slightly northwest of the village is Kispiox Mountain at 2,096m. Some popular lookouts are Nine Mile Mountain (1,765m) which lies east of Kispiox village and has fair road access through the community of Two Mile; Tenas Mountain, which has a good viewpoint and is a popular winter skidoo area, can be accessed from Swan Lake Road (about 19 km north on the Kispiox Valley Road or about 7 km north of Kispiox village).

The whole area is a network of forest service roads, many without active logging, and forest service campsites. To obtain a map of the Kispiox Valley stop at the Forest Service office on the left just before the Kispiox Valley Road turnoff. The forests that make up and surround the Kispiox Valley are abundant with such animals as beaver, bears, deer, moose, fox, coyote and wolves. The area boasts a huge variety of birds such as bald eagles, golden eagles, hawks, owls, and many more.

HOW TO GET HERE

Native Foods
Native food is very important to us. We have many things around us to work with and live on. Blueberries, strawberries, saskatoon berries, raspberries, huckleberries, highbush blueberries, salmon, moose meat, beaver, and many other types of small game are also on the Native Foods list.

When the summer berries are ready for picking, we spend most of our time out in the fields picking all kinds of berries for preserving and freezing. We either preserve the fresh berries into jars or make jam out of them. In the past, we used to crush berries and dry them for storage.

Another traditional Gitxsan method of obtaining food is hunting. Some of the animals hunted include moose, deer, beaver, and grouse. When game is shot, it is cleaned well, and then cut for processing: jarring, smoking, steaks or freezing. Hunting is a skill that is known by all Gitxsan men, young and old.

One of the great foods of the summer time is salmon. Salmon and other types of fish can be jarred, canned, smoked, boiled, bar-be-qued, or frozen! There are many different types of fish in our waters; salmon being the most important. It is the first fish to “run” in the summer, near the end of May or sooner. Our two rivers, the Skeena and the Kispiox, keep us well supplied with all we need. When entering our community, you may notice many of our smokehouses are active during the summer.

We also receive many other types of seafood from coastal people through trading. Shell fish, particularly clams, and oolicans are examples. Oolicans come from the Nass River people, and are processed into a very rich grease.

Salmon barbecue lunches are available at the Kispiox Cultural/Information Centre during the summer months. A traditional native lunch can be part of the Kispiox village walking tour if you make arrangements prior to your visit. Phone 250-842-7057 from April to October or toll free at 1-877-842-5911 (Canada & USA) year around for more information.

General Information

Water Tower

Built in 1988.
Located above new subdivision

Size of Village

1650 acres.
900 acres for new subdivision.

Population

700 on reserve.
1300 members.

Ballfields

We have two ballfields on our reserve. A cookhouse is located at one of the fields where soccer is played. Village Map