My Mountain Co-op/Shames Mountain is located on unceded Ts’msyen (Tsimshian) territory. Specifically, we would like to acknowledge the Gitando Tribe (one of nine allied tribes that formed a loose confederation based in Metlakatla and Lax Kw’alaams). One of Gitando’s villages is at the confluence of the Shames and Skeena rivers and before settler colonialism, they stewarded these lands from the bottom of the river beds to the tip of the mountain tops. We see the legacy of these practices on Shames Mountain today: culturally modified trees (markers and cambium harvests), and important black huckleberry (mihał) and blueberry (smmaay) harvesting locales. 

Our Office in Terrace is located on territory of the Kitsumkalum people. We celebrate and acknowledge the deep-rooted histories embedded in the land that we all get to play on and enjoy. We extend this acknowledgement to all Indigenous communities — Kitselas, Nisga’a, Gitxsan, Haisla, Talhtan, Tlingit, Wet’suwe’ten, Tse’khene — and everyone who calls the north home.

One small way that we honour the opportunity to recreate in this beautiful landscape is with our Sm’algyax Welcome sign that was created with assistance from the Ts’msyen Sm’algyax Language Authority. Click on the links below to hear the signs read in Sm’algyax.

Ła bała sg̱an” means welcome – literally translated to “the (cedar) mat is spread”

My Mountain Co-op continues to aspire towards improvements that make Shames Mountain a more inclusive, diverse, and fun place for all families in the north.