The latter two communities resulted in the colonial intersections of early settlers and consist of Tsimshian people belonging to the 'nine tribes.'

Tsimshian society is matrilineal kinship-based, which means identity, clans and property pass through the maternal line.

Over time, these groups developed a new dialect of their ancestral language and came to regard themselves as a distinct population, the Tsimshian-proper.

The Tsimshian maintained winter villages in and around the islands of Prince Rupert Harbour and Venn Pass (Metlakatla).

[7] Gitxaala might have been the first Tsimshian village contacted by Europeans when Captain Charles Duncan and James Colnett arrived in 1787[7] although Russian fur traders may have visited northern groups earlier.

In the 1880s the Anglican missionary William Duncan, along with a group of the Tsimshian, left Metlakatla, British Columbia and requested settlement on Annette Island from the U.S. government.

The Annette Islands Reserve was the only location in Alaska allowed to maintain fish traps according to traditional rights.

The majority of Tsimshian still live in the lower Skeena River watershed near Prince Rupert, as well as northern coastal BC.

Some Tsimshian moved south into the Columbia River Basin mid-nineteenth century for picking hops and other agricultural crops.

A battle ensued at Dungeness Spit near Port Townsend, Washington where some Tsimshian were camped along the shore.

Some cultural taboos have related to prohibiting women and men from eating improper foods during and after childbirth.

Like all Northwest Coastal peoples, the Tsimshian harvested the abundant sea life, especially salmon.

They lived in large longhouses, made from cedar house posts and panels to withstand the wet climate.

Today in Tsimshian culture, the potlatch is held to honour deaths, burials, and succession to name-titles.

The feast system is the agency for social reproduction, expression of law, the transmission of knowledge, and demonstration of the obligations for chiefs to provide stewardship for resources and attending to needs of communities.

Like other coastal peoples, the Tsimshian fashioned most of their goods out of western red cedar, especially its bark.

[11] A decade later, fourteen tribes united to negotiate under the collective name of the Tsimshian Tribal Council.

A subset of the Tsimshian First Nations continues to negotiate with the BC Treaty Commission to reach an Agreement-in-Principle [12] that has alienated most members.