Tsimshian, North American Indians of the Northwest Coast who traditionally lived on the mainland and islands around the Skeena and Nass rivers and Milbanke Sound in what is now British Columbia, Can., and Alaska, U.S. They speak any of three Tsimshian dialects: Niska, spoken along the Nass River; coastal Tsimshian, along the lower Skeena and the coast; and Kitksan (or Gitksan), along the upper Skeena. Tsimshian is classified as a Penutian language.
The traditional economy of the Tsimshian was based on fishing. They passed the summer months trapping migrating salmon and eulachon (candlefish), a species of smelt. Eulachon were particularly valuable for their oil, which was made into a food highly regarded by many peoples of the area. Large permanent winter houses, made of wood and often carved and painted, symbolized the wealth of Tsimshian families; during the winter months, some land animals were also hunted.
The coastal Tsimshian and the Niska were divided into four major clans, or kin groups; the Kitksan into three. These were further divided into local segments or lineages, descent being traced through the maternal line. Each lineage was generally an independent social and ceremonial unit with its own fishing and hunting areas, berry grounds, house or houses, and heraldic crests representing events in the family history, as well as its own chiefs. Local groupings, or tribes, were composed of several lineages; each lineage was ranked relative to the others, and the chief of the highest-ranked lineage was recognized as chief of the tribe. The tribe as a whole held properties such as the winter village site and participated in ceremonies and warfare.
The Tsimshian were known for their highly conventionalized applied art. Carved and painted columns (popularly known as “totem poles”) were erected, primarily as memorials to deceased chiefs. The major Tsimshian potlatches, or ceremonial distributions of gifts, had as their purpose the announcement and validation of the position of the new chief. Potlatches could also mark a series of events several years apart, such as house building, totem-pole raising, and dramatizations of privileges and crests.
Early 21st-century population estimates indicated some 5,000 Tsimshian descendants.