A History of the Wet’suwet’en Of Moricetown, B.C
from the book "Proud Past" by Maureen & Frank Cassidy

Chapter I

A History of the Wet’suwet’en Of Moricetown, B.C

The Origin of Tribes
A Moricetown Legend
Long ago the people of Moricetown lived at a village called Dizlegh which means “Dead trees all pointing in one direction”. This place on the Bulkley River is now known as Mosquito Flats, Diztlegh was a great village where the Carrier, Gitksan, and Sekani people all lived together.

The people of the village built a big weir across the river to catch the salmon going up to spawn. With their stone axes they cut timber on the hill side. They dragged the logs to the waters edge with ropes of cedar bark, moose hide, and caribou hide.

Strong men drove in the piles with large stones. They laid the logs in place, forming a blockade across the river with gaps in which to set their fish traps.

One summer day during the salmon run many people were standing on the weir. Two squirrels wandered over it, quite fearless, and examined the structure above and below. The people were terrified. They believed the squirrels ‘visit would bring bad luck; All of the people would die at the hands of the sky-god Udakke.

Everyone who lived at the Diztlegh scattered in all directions, The Gitksan moved down to the Skeena River, The Carriers went to Babine Lake and others places. The Sekani fled northward.

Some people traveled toTrout Creek. They lived there until Moricetown canyon was found. Then everyone moved to the spot where Moricetown is now.

In The Old Days
The move from Diztlegh took place many, many generations ago. It was so far back that one cannot say exactly when, but we know that by 1800 this is how the people of Moricetown lived.

‘Kyah Wiget was the main village for the Bulkley River Carriers. It was at the falls of the Bulkley River were Moricetown is now. The “Old town” or ‘Kyah Wiget spread out over both sides of the river. There was a sturdy and well-built bridge which linked both sides.

 

Hagwilget did not yet exist. Smithers did not exist. Hazelton did not exist. The white man had not yet entered this part of the world

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The people called themselves the Wet’suwet’en and lived on the river which they called Wet’sinkwha. The Wet’suwet’en owned and controlled the whole basin of the Bulkley river and the western half of Francois Lake.

In the early times, ‘Kyah Wiget was the best place in the area for catching salmon. In the summer months, when the salmon were running, all of the Wet’suwet’en gathered at ‘Kyah Wiget. There on the weir built across the river, they could use their gaffs or set their traps and baskets to catch the fish.

The salmon were plentiful and there was lots of time for feasts and potlatches. Twelve of thirteen long houses or feast houses lined the river, one for each extended family. In addition, there were many smaller summer lodges and fish drying sheds.

A Clever People
The Wet’suwet’en were related by language and culture to the groups to the east, and north and south of them. The Wet’suwet’en were part of the Dene or Athapaskan nation. This nation stretched from the shores of Hudson’s Bay to the Alaska Panhandle and from the Arctic Eskimos in the north to the Coast Salish to the south. The people were also related to the Navajos and Apaches in the United States.

 

The Wet’ suwet’en, Like the Gitksans, arranged them selves into clans. The clan controlled the political and social affairs of its members; it regulated marriage, for no man could marry a woman of his own clan. It acted as a unit in dealings with the other clans, protecting its own members and being responsible for their misdeeds. Most importantly, the clan owed and controlled hunting territories, fishing places, and berry picking grounds.

Each clan was divided into two or three extended families. The family was the basic unit of living. The chief of the extended family was called Dinee Za’. The chiefs were the genuine leaders of the people. They made all the important decisions and settled arguments. Under the chief were the nobles, most of whom were close relatives. Then the common people and finally the slaves.

In the summer each family lived together in a long house. If possible, all would live in the feast house where potlatches were also held. If not, a similar but smaller lodge would be built nearby for the overflow.

The lodges were strung out along the Bulkley River. Each extended family had at least a ceremonial lodge. Each family had an individual fishing place at the Moricetown canyon which could be used by members of that family.

Potlatch
Every clan owned a number of names. These names gave to the owners the mark of nobility. Gaining a name depended partly on the ability to give the necessary potlatch. To host a potlatch was a big job. Only the most successful and hard working could manage it.

Each name had its own crests. Crests were special animals such as frog, caribou, bear, beaver, or other things. These crests were carved on totem poles, painted or carved on the front of the feast houses, and painted grave posts. They were also put on blankets worn at dances and tattooed on the chests of men and the wrists of women.

A name, with its crests, was usually taken at the death of the person who held it. The one who wished to become chief would give his series of six potlatches spread out over a period of years. At these feast there would be singing and dancing and story telling.

The rules of the potlatch ceremony had to be strictly followed. Each clan and each name within the clan had exactly one correct spot to be seated at during the potlatch. Care had to be followed not to insult anyone by seating him in the wrong spot.

Perhaps the biggest and most important potlatches were gaining the rank of chief. There were other kinds of potlatches, too. Some feasts were given to settle arguments. Some were given when a boy or girl became an adult. Some were given on the slightest excuse…just for fun.

Important potlatches often brought many guests from all over. People came from Gitanmaax, Kitsegukla, and Babine. The Wet’suwet’en often went to Gitksan potlatches too.

The time of potlatches was during the summer. While the salmon were running through the Moricetown canyon, the people lived in long houses and fished and feasted. It has been said that because the women did most of the work in cleaning and drying the fish, the men had plenty of time to socialize.

Out on the land
Before snow came, however, the Wet’suwet’en left ‘Kyah Wiget and went to there hunting territories. They broke up into families, maybe two families together, and traveled to all corners of the land.

The men hunted for beaver; caribou, bear, mountain goat, and marmot. Moose did not reach into their territory until the last half of the 19th century. Rabbits and grouse also added fresh meat.

Each clan had clearly defined hunting areas. Only members of that clan would hunt there. The families of the clan agreed where each hunted in that area. The land around present day Moricetown is the hunting territory of the extended family “House on top of a flat rock” of the Laksilyu clan. The area is known as Ta’Begh or “Trail beside the water”

In the early spring the families met on the lakes and rivers to fish through holes in the ice. They went after steelhead and other fish, using spears and lines set with fishbone hooks. When the ice melted, they scattered again to hunt until the salmon started running at ‘Kyah Wiget.

The Houses they lived in during this part of the year looked very little like the long houses of the summer. They were smaller and built tightly for warmth. The roof tops sloped all the way down to the ground so there were no side walls.

Before the arrival of iron axes in the area, getting and carrying enough firewood to the winter lodges was quite a problem. Fires would be lit under a standing tree to burn unit the tree fell down. Then smaller trees were crossed over the trunk. A fire was lit at each small tree until the big tree was burnt into firewood lengths.

It is not surprising, then, that people stayed inside a lot in the winter, this is a time for story telling and education for the young. Much care was given to the training of the male and female children, starting from when they were very small. The elders of the people were the teachers.

There was training in various tasks the children would have to do when they grew up. Girls were taught skills such as the tanning of the skins and the making of birch bark baskets. Boys were taught house building and hunting and fishing.

The elders also used Gidete or legends to instruct the young. These were stories told by the elders in the evening. They were fun to hear, but they always had a religious or moral point to make.

The Great Rock Slide
About 1820 a rock slide almost blocked the Bulkley River above Hagwilget Canyon. Very few salmon could go up to ‘Kyah Wiget. The Wet’suwet’en were forced to move their village to be able to eat.

Most of the people went to what was the Gitksan territory at Hagwilget. They set up the village of Tse-Kya or “Rock Foot” on the flat of land below present day Hagwilget. Before this time the dividing point between the territories of the two people had been at about porphyry creek, near present day Beament.

There are two different versions of what happened. In one the Gitksans allowed the Wet’suwet’en to come and set up their new village on a kind of rental basis. In another version, the Wet’suwet’en had to fight their way into the new place.

In any event, there they stayed and built a new summer village. There were long houses, the potlatches, and of course ample salmon most years to see the people through the long winter months. The village of Tse-Kya would be used for eighty years or so. Then some of the residents moved back to Moricetown and some moved up the hill to the site of today’s Hagwilget.

The people of the Bulkley River continued to socialize with the Gitksans. As recently as the 1830’s half of the people of Kitsegukla, for example, spoke the Wet’suwet’en language.

The Wet’suwet’en before the arrival of the white man were a Dynamic people. They combined aspects of the culture of the Gitksans to the west of them and Dene to the east of them. They were clear about who they were and what their place was in order of nature. They felt most keenly the relations of humans to other animals. They had a sense of harmony with the land and with themselves.