The Nisgñaa Museum () is a museum of the Nisgñaa people, located in Laxñgñaltsüap, a village in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The Nisgñaa name means "the heart of Nisgñaa House crests," a name that celebrates the role of tribal crests in Nisgñaa society. The museum is a project of the Nisgñaa Lisims Government and opened in the spring of 2011. It is a place for display of Nisgñaa artifacts, sharing traditions and ideas, and a centre for research and learning. The museum's collection of Nisgñaa culture is "one of the preeminent collections of Northwest Coast aboriginal art" The museum's website states: "This is our gift to each other, our fellow Canadians and the world."
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Nisgñaa artifacts and treasures were destroyed or removed from the Nass Valley by missionaries who established themselves along the Nass River. The Ancestors' Collection (Anhooyaahl Gaangigatgum ) houses a core collection of over 330 artifacts returned to the Nisgñaa from the Royal British Columbia Museum, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and the Anglican Church of Canada through the negotiated Nisga'a Treaty. The entrance to the exhibits is through a replica of a Nisgñaa longhouse which are exhibited in four galleries:
Most of the artifacts are displayed in the open with only the most delicate or valuable behind glass, all secured by motion sensors. Included in the displays are four house poles (totem poles), representing the four Nisgñaa clans, that were carved specifically for the museum.
Future exhibits are planned to show both natural history and recent history of the Nisgñaa people, including the struggle for the return of traditional lands and evolution into the self-governing Nisgñaa Nation. Future additions are intended to include a variety of media including an audio guide, audio/visual presentation, museum book, a searchable database, archival software systems, a library and teaching centre, and a gift shop for Nisgñaa art and artists.
The Ni'isjoohl totem pole is a tall hand carved totem pole. The pole was commissioned by the House of NiâÂÂisjoohl in the 19th century to honor Ts'wawit, a Nisgñaüa warrior who had died in battle. During the summer of 1929, the pole was taken without permission by Marius Barbeau and sent to the Royal Scottish Museum. On September 29, 2023, the pole formally returned to the Nisgñaüa people and will be housed in the museum.
Planning for the museum began in the 1990s and funding was allocated as part of the treaty settlement. In September 2010 a formal repatriation ceremony welcomed the return of the artifacts to the Nisgñaa, which were delivered with Royal Canadian Mounted Police escort. The $14 million facility opened on May 11, 2011, the 11th anniversary of the signing of the Nisga'a Treaty.
The architecture emulates traditional Nisgñaa forms: the floor plan a feast bowl, the cross section a traditional longhouse, and the roof a canoe. The canoe form and its siting on a gravel amphitheater, evoking images of a beach, are also references to the motto for the Nisga'a Treaty signing: âÂÂour canoe has landed.âÂÂ.
The facility has the only Class A climate-controlled gallery space in British Columbia's northwest (as of 2014) and has state of the art security.