Haisla Nation
Haisla, meaning “dwellers downriver”, have occupied lands for over 9000 years. Kitamaat Village sits at the head of the Douglas Channel in British Columbia. Today’s Haisla Nation is an amalgamation of two historic bands – the Kitamaat of the Douglas and Devastation channels and the Kitlope of the upper Princess Royal Channel and Gardner Canal.
The Haisla, meaning “dwellers downriver”, have occupied lands for over 9000 years. Today, the Haisla people are centered on Kitamaat Village. Home to about half of the 1700 Haisla, Kitamaat Village sits at the head of the Douglas Channel in British Columbia. The balance of the Haisla lives elsewhere in the region or in Greater Vancouver.
Today’s Haisla Nation is an amalgamation of two historic bands – the Kitamaat of the Douglas and Devastation channels and the Kitlope of the upper Princess Royal Channel and Gardner Canal. Neighbouring nations include the Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv bands of the Coast Tsimshian peoples.
Living and working on the water has always been important to the Haisla, and that remains so today. The Haisla people have lived off the land and water resources of the Douglas Channel and our traditional territory for hundreds of years, and protection of those resources for future generations is a strong commitment by every Haisla member. Today, there are about 1700 Haisla, half of which live in Kitamaat Village.
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