A "rememberer"; among the Haisla, Louise Barbetti has worked with linguists and anthropologists over the decades, contributing to various sets of language lessons and ethnographic reports. She co-authored, edited and contributed to We are our History - A Celebration of our Haisla Heritage (2005). In the preface to her dictated version of the Haisla Nuyem, the tribal traditional law, she says, "My name is Amais Adec'. That's my feast name. My retirement name is Ajigis. I was born on this reserve almost 70 years ago. This was times when the Haisla people, young and old, were still governed by the nuyem, our law. I grew up listening to my great grandmother and, later, my mother teaching us the nuyem through the old stories. Nusi antlanuxw waxganutlanuxw; they told us the stories every night. Our nuyem is still important. Our young people need to learn our law, our nuyem. That's the reason I'm putting it down. The nuyem will keep us as strong and capable as our ancestors were." Born in 1936 at Kitamaat Village, mujilh (chieftainess) Louise Barbetti, sister of chief C'esi, is also a leader of a movement to preserve the Kitlope region. [Vickie Jensen photo]

BOOKS:

Barbetti, Louise et al. We are our History - A Celebration of our Haisla Heritage (Kitamaat Village Council, 2005).

[BCBW 2005]