Gitwangak Battle Hill National Historic Site

Gitwangak Battle Hill National Historic Site, formerly known as Kitwanga Fort National Historic Site is a National Historic Site of Canada located at Kitwanga, British Columbia in the Skeena Country of Northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The reserve now called 'Gitwangax'. This is to distinguish it from the adjacent lumber milling town, Kitwanga. 'Battle Hill' was an 18th-century earthwork fortress, located in Kitwanga. The site includes a trail with interpretive signs. The park was developed by George Macdonald, whose archaeological study was of the site, and who was the Director of the National Museum of Civilization until the opening of its current building. The nearby Gitwangax Village features several wooden totem poles that were originally erected by several 'clans' ('Wilp' in the Gitksan language; 'house' in contemporary use) along the shore of, and facing the Skeena River. After the flood of ca. 1934, they were moved to higher ground, but (in contrast to traditional practice) to face the village.