| Feature Type: | Community - An unincorporated populated place, generally with a population of 50 or more, and having a recognized central area that might contain a post office, store and/or community hall, etc, intended for the use of the general public in the region. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | N side of lower Nass River, between Gitwinksihlkw and Gingolx (formerly Kincolith), N of Prince Rupert, Cassiar Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 55°01'49"N, 129°34'36"W at the approximate population centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 103P/4 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Lachkaltsap (Indian Village), not Lachkaltzap, was adopted in the 1930 BC Gazetteer. Name changed to Greenville (Post Office) 6 July 1950 on 103NE. Confirmed 6 August 1953 on 103P and 7 July 1960 on 103P. Form of name changed to Greenville (Community) 14 January 1983 on 103P/4. Name changed to Laxgalts'ap (community) per Nisga'a Treaty, Appendix F-3, effective 11 May 2000. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office, file N.1.53. |
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Laxgalts'ap has come to mean "a dwelling place situated upon an ancient dwelling place" [Lax/ on; gal/ empty, uninhabited; ts'ap/ village]. Gitxat'in was the original name of this village before it was destroyed by fire, after which it became known as Laxgalts'ap. "Galts'ap" has also become the more widely used term today to mean "village site" (advice from Sim'oogit Gilaxnamk'ap, 1983) Source: Nisga'a Tribal Council / Ayuukhl Nisga'a Department, Aiyansh BC |
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Laxgalts'ap - a Nisga'a First Nation community known for many years as Greenville - was one of 34 official names adopted in 2000 as part of the Nisga'a Treaty. It can be interpreted as "a dwelling place located on the site of an ancient village." The original settlement here, called Gitxat'in, was destroyed long ago by fire. The modern community was spelled Lachkaltsap in the 1930 Gazetteer, but the name was changed in 1950 to Greenville after Reverend Alfred Eli Green (1851-1914), who served there as a Methodist missionary, 1877-90. A native of Northamptonshire, Green taught at New Westminister and Nanaimo before marrying Elizabeth Jane Gilbert (1857-1936), from Cornwall, at Victoria in 1878. He was a close associate of Thomas Crosby and, like Crosby, caused controversy by backing First Nation land claims on the North Coast. In 1890, Green moved to Vancouver and established a number of churches in the Lower Mainland, including Fairview Methodist, where he and his wife were members. He was appointed federal inspector of Indian schools in BC in the early 1900s. Greenville Creek, a tributary of the Nass River, is also named for him. Laxgalts'ap is a popular spot for catching and processing eulachon. It was only connected to the rest of the Nass valley by road in 1985. Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp. 331. |