| Group: | Wetʼsuwetʼen |
| Total: | approx. 3,160 (2019)[1] |
| Popplace: | Canada (British Columbia) |
| Rels: | Indigenous religion |
| Langs: | English, Babine-Witsuwitʼen |
| Related: | Other Dene peoples Especially Tsilhqotʼin, Dakelh, and Babine |
The Wetʼsuwetʼen are a First Nation who live on the Bulkley River and around Burns Lake, Broman Lake, and François Lake in the northwestern Central Interior of British Columbia.
The Wetʼsuwetʼen are a branch of the Dakelh or Carrier people, and in combination with the Babine people have been referred to as the Western Carrier. They speak Witsuwitʼen, a dialect of the Babine-Witsuwitʼen language which, like its sister language Carrier, is a member of the Athabaskan family.
Their oral history, called kungax, recounts that their ancestral village, Dizkle or Dzilke, once stood upstream from the Bulkley Canyon. This cluster of cedar houses on both sides of the river is said to have been abandoned because of an omen of impending disaster. The exact location of the village has been lost.[2] The neighbouring Gitxsan people of the Hazelton area have a similar tale, though the village in their version is named Dimlahamid (Temlahan).[3] [4]
The word Wetʼsuwetʼen is spelled in numerous ways. Witsuwitʼen is the correct spelling in the writing system in general use. In non-technical publications, it is usually misspelled as Witsʼuwitʼen, Witʼsuwitʼen, Wetsʼuwetʼen, or Wetʼsuwetʼen due to the difficulty of distinguishing ejective [ts] from plain [ts]. Official spellings with
The endonym Wetʼsuwetʼen means "People of the Wa Dzun Kwuh River (Bulkley River)".[5]
In the traditional Wetʼsuwetʼen governance system, there are five clans, which are further subdivided into 13 house groups. Each house group is led by a single house chief, and also includes several sub-chiefs (also referred to as "wing chiefs"). Hereditary chief names (both house chiefs and sub-chiefs) are usually passed on to a successor chosen by the incumbent name holder, more often than not through family lines. Clan membership is Matrilineal, passed from mother to children. In Witsuwit'en, male hereditary chiefs are referred to as dinï zeʼ, and female hereditary chiefs are referred to as tsʼakë zeʼ.[6]
The house groups and house chiefs of each of the five clans, as well as the English names of the current house chiefs, can be found in the chart below.
| Yex Tʼsa Witʼantʼ | Thin House | Goohlaht | vacant | |
| Yex Tʼsa Wilkʼus | Dark House | Knedebeas | Warner William | |
| Kayex | Birchbark House | Samooh | Herb Naziel |
| Kwen Beegh Yex | House Beside the Fire | Wah Tah Kwets | vacant | |
| Gʼen Egh La Yex | House of Many Eyes | Hagwilnegh | Ron Mitchell | |
| Tsee Kʼal Kʼe Yex | House on a Flat Rock | Wah Tah Kʼeght | vacant |
| Djakanyex | Beaver House | Kweese | vacant | |
| Tsa Kʼen Yex | Rafters on Beaver House | Naʼmoks | John Ridsdale |
| Medzeyex | Owl House | Kloum Khun | Alphonse Gagnon | |
| Tsalyex | Sun House | Smogelgem | Warner Naziel |
| Cassyex | Grizzly House | Woos | Frank Alec | |
| Kalyexwenits | House in the Middle of Many | Gisdayʼwa | Fred Tom | |
| Anaskasi | Where it Lies Blocking the Trail | Madeek | Jeff Brown |
*Unist'ot'en Camp Group is affiliated with the Yex T'sa Wilk'us (Dark House) under the Gilseyhu (Big Frog) Clan.[7]
In 1960, the Decker Lake, François Lake (later Nee-Tahi-Buhn), Maxim Lake and Skin Tyee Bands merged to form the Omineca Band. In 1984, the Omineca Band divided into the Nee-Tahi-Buhn and Browman (or Broman) Lake Bands, the latter of which later became Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation. In 2000, the Skin Tyee Band separated from the Nee-Tahi-Buhn Band.[8]
The following two First Nations are members of the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council:[9]
The following four First Nations are not affiliated with any tribal council:
The Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen, also known as the Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen or the OW, is a political organization governed by the hereditary chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen people, based in Smithers, British Columbia. The Office takes part in the BC Treaty Process through the two Indian Act band governments (Hagwilget and Witset First Nations) which contain the 13 hereditary chieftaincies. The Office is not a tribal council, nor a traditional governing body, but rather a non-profit society,[17] directed by a Board of Directors, with the goal of being a central office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen Nation. It was founded as an independent office in 1994, after the splitting of the Gitxsan-Wet’suwet’en Tribal Council, which had represented the two nations during Delgamuukw v British Columbia.[18] [19]
As of April 2020, the Board of Directors was composed of seven house chiefs (Naʼmoks, Knedebeas, Madeek, Samooh, Kloum Khun, Wah Tah Kʼeght, and Hagwilnegh).[20]
As of 2009, the organization was at Stage 4 of the BC Treaty Process.
On May 14, 2020, the governments of Canada and British Columbia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en, in which the Canadian and B.C. governments "recognize that Wet’suwet’en rights and title are held by Wet’suwet’en houses under their system of governance".[21] Following concerns by leaders of the band councils, the hereditary chiefs clarified that the Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen is not a governing body, and that the authority of the band councils under the MOU would not be diminished.