About Us

In 1965, Nisga’a elders and citizens formed a Nisga’a organization in Prince Rupert and Port Edward called the Nisga’a Tribal Council. The purpose of the organization was to establish a sense of community that would benefit Nisga’a peoples living in Prince Rupert and Port Edward, as well as to participate in the revived Nisga’a Land Question.

In 2000, the Government of Canada passed the Nisga’a Final Agreement Act, giving legal effect to the treaty that was negotiated over the previous decades. The Nisga’a Tribal Council was restructured and renamed to the Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Prince Rupert/Port Edward Society (the “Society”) in order to secure a funding agreement with Nisga’a Lisims Government.

In 2005, Nisga’a Lisims Government provided the Society with the title to the Nisga’a Hall for $1 for the provision of programs and services to Nisga’a citizens residing in Prince Rupert and Port Edward. And in 2014, the Society incorporated the Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga'a Economic Development Corporation to create jobs and revenue for the Society and its members.

The Society is made up of Nisga’a peoples whose origins are from K’aliaksim Lisims with a population of over 1600 registered citizens.

The Society continues to observe the Ayuukhl Nisga’a and shares in its resources and responsibilities equally, according to the principle of the common bowl.

The Society is governed by a 5-member board of directors, elected on a four year election cycle. The Society operates utilizing bylaws registered under the B.C. Societies Act, created under direction by Nisga’a Lisims Government.