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View atop Gitwangak Battle Hill (formerly Kitwanga Fort), the site of a former Gitwangak fortified village on the Kitwanga River in Kitwanga, British Columbia. During the late-1700s and early-1800s, Battle Hill was part of a complex trading network and the site of warfare between the Gitwangak (members of the Gitxsan) and other Aboriginal peoples of the Northwest Coast. The village was burned and abandoned in 1835. In 1971, it was recognized as a national historic site by the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
According to Gitwangak oral tradition, Chief Nekt created the fortified village at Battle Hill in the 18th century as a defensive stronghold. Under his direction, the Gitwangak built five longhouses on top of the hill and enclosed it with a palisade. The fort served as a base to raid coastal Indigenous peoples for food, slaves and other resources.
From the mid-1700s to the early 1800s, the strategically-located Gitwangak fort was key to economic superiority in the region, and the centre of local warfare and trade. Warfare was motivated by the desire to acquire new resources, particularly metals and weapons. Legends recall Nekt’s desire to gain control of a lucrative trade network of 22 trails that stretched along the Skeena, Nass and Stikine River system.
According to oral history, Nekt’s death in battle brought peace back to the region. Increased accessibility to guns weakened the security of the fortified village; it was burnt and abandoned in 1835. The Gitwangak relocated to what is now the town of Kitwanga on the banks of the Skeena River.
From: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/kitwanga-fort
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