The Gitlan are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian Nation in British Columbia, Canada, and referred to as one of the 'nine tribes of the lower Skeena River. The name Gitlan means "people of the Stern Canoe." Their traditional territory includes the watershed of the Zimacord River, a tributary of the Skeena River. An area of the riverbank there resembled from the distance a canoe-stern, hence the name of the tribe. The Gitlan had village sites at Venn Pass and around the harbour in addition to their main region on the Skeena River. In 1887, some of the Gitlan tribe moved from Lax Kw'alaams and Metlakatla, B.C., along with other tribes' members from the mission, with the Anglican lay missionary William Duncan to found the community of "New" Metlakatla, Alaska. Sm'oygit Nis la ganoos (Simeon Gitlan) had followed the missionary to the new location. Bishop Ridley had been assigned by the Church Missionary Society to the seat of the New Caledonia diocese to be located at Metlakatla, BC. Disagreements ensued between Mr. Duncan and Mr. Ridley, including one about the eucharist in worship services. The division between them was noted by the Hereditary Chiefs and capitalized upon by them because they were not content with the changes wrought through the missionary. Eventually their disagreement permeated village life and destruction of property occurred. Bishop Ridley had traveled to England and returned with two letters for Mr. Duncan. One with praise from the Church Missionary society was to be delivered to Mr. Duncan after the disagreement had settled accordingly, and the other was a dismissal if the disagreement was not settled. Bishop Ridley handed Mr. Duncan the letter of dismissal regardless of the disagreement. Mr. Duncan traveled to Washington, D.C. to address congress and air his grievance with need of relocation for him and his converts. He was granted the Annette Islands in the U.S. territory of Alaska where he founded Metlakatla, AK. The majority of the mission village followed Duncan while a contingent of chiefs, including a Gitlan Sm'oygit (Chief), and people remained behind in the Metlakatla, B.C. village (Arctander, 1909; Church Missionary Society 1856, 1858, 1865) The Gitlan consists of 17 House groups with two royal houses, one Ganhada (Raven), House of Xpe Hanaax and one Laxiboo (Wolf), House of Gwiskyaan. These two lineages are related through time and interwoven through their history, each provided lineage for Gitlan