The Bella Coola Valley is a relatively small but distinct region located in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, comprising the valley of the Bella Coola River and its tributaries. [1] The region is served by BC Hwy 20, which runs from Williams Lake to the town of Bella Coola at the head of North Bentinck Arm, from where there is seasonal ferry service to Vancouver Island and Prince Rupert.
The entire valley, and the regions surrounding North and South Bentinck Arm and Dean and Burke Channels, is the historical territory of the Nuxalk Nation, who claim sovereignty over it as unsurrendered to the Crown. [2]
The Bella Coola River, and so by default the Bella Coola Valley, forms the boundary between the Kitimat Ranges to the north and the Pacific Ranges to the south, which are two of the three major subdivisions of the Coast Mountains, the other being the Boundary Ranges along the border with Alaska. [3] [4] [5]
The Nuxalk Nation is the band government of the Nuxalk people of Bella Coola, British Columbia. It is a member of the Oweekeno-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council, and until March 2008 was a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. The population is 1,479.
Bella Coola is a community in the Bella Coola Valley, in British Columbia, Canada. Bella Coola usually refers to the entire valley, encompassing the settlements of Bella Coola proper, Lower Bella Coola, Hagensborg, Salloompt, Nusatsum, Firvale and Stuie. It is also the location of the head offices of the Central Coast Regional District.
The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains portion of the Pacific Cordillera. Located entirely within British Columbia, Canada, they run northwest from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola and Burke Channel, north of which are the Kitimat Ranges. The Coast Mountains lie between the Interior Plateau and the Coast of British Columbia.
The Kitimat Ranges are one of the three main subdivisions of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, the others being the Pacific Ranges to the south and the Boundary Ranges to the north.
Dean Channel is the upper end of one of the longest inlets of the British Columbia Coast, 105 km (65.2 mi) from its head at the mouth of the Kimsquit River. The Dean River, one of the main rivers of the Coast Mountains, enters Dean Channel about 9.5 km (5.9 mi) below the head of the inlet, at the community of Kimsquit.
The Bella Coola River is a major river on the Pacific slope of the Coast Mountains in southern British Columbia. The town of Bella Coola is at its mouth on North Bentinck Arm. Bella Coola Indian Reserve No. 1 the location of the main community today of the surviving population of the Nuxalk who gathered there after depredations by smallpox and colonialization.
North Bentinck Arm is a short inlet about 17 km (11 mi) in length in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is an arm of Burke Channel and is linked via that waterway and Labouchere Channel to Dean Channel, which is one of the largest inlets of the BC Coast.
Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park is a provincial park covering parts of the eastern Kitimat Ranges, northern Pacific Ranges, and the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada. It was established on May 21, 1938 to protect a vast area of pristine wilderness in the western interior of the province.
Hagensborg, originally named Kristiania, is a small community in the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia, Canada. Its census population in 2006 was 248. The Bella Coola Valley was already the ancient home to the Nuxálk people when European explorers arrived. Norwegian settlers from Minnesota and Wisconsin arrived in 1894, and under the guidance of the Reverend Christian Saugstad established a colony. The colony was named "Hagen's Borg" after Hagen B. Christensen, the first storekeeper in the area and postmaster from April 1, 1896 to October 14, 1910..
The Hazelton Mountains are a grouping of mountain ranges on the inland lee of the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, spanning the area of Hazelton south to the Nechako Reservoir. Defined by the British Columbia geographic names office, they span from the Nass River to the Nechako Plateau, and between the Coast Mountains and the Bulkley River, they are considered by geographers to be part of the Interior Mountains complex, though in local perspective they are considered to be part of the Coast Mountains. They are neighboured on the west by the Kitimat Ranges and on the east by the southernmost section of the Skeena Mountains; beyond the Nass River, which is their northern boundary, are the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. To their southeast is the Nechako Plateau, including the Quanchus Range on the near-island between Ootsa and Eutsuk Lakes of the Nechako Reservoir.
The Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail is a 420 km (260 mi) long historical overland route between Quesnel and Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada. Of the many grease trails connecting the Coast with the Interior, it is the most notable and often is referred to as the Grease Trail.
Tallheo is the location of a former village of the Nuxalk known as Talyu, and is a former cannery town near Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada, on North Bentinck Arm. Tallheo is also the name of the dialect of the Nuxalk language spoken by the Talhyumc, the particular subgroup of the Nuxalk who live there.
The Nuxalk people, also referred to as the Bella Coola, Bellacoola or Bilchula, are an Indigenous First Nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast, centred in the area in and around Bella Coola, British Columbia. Their language is also called Nuxalk. Their on-reserve tribal government is the Nuxalk Nation.
The Noosgulch River is a river in the Bella Coola Valley of the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, flowing southwest from the southernmost Kitimat Ranges to meet the Bella Coola River just north of Nusatsum Mountain.
Noohalk Mountain 2099 m is a mountain in the northernmost Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south side of the Bella Coola Valley between Hagensborg and Bella Coola.
Comet Mountain, 1742 m, is a mountain in the Kitimat Ranges of British Columbia, Canada, located immediately west of the head of Dean Channel in the Central Coast region of that province, to the northwest of the town of Bella Coola. The former Nuxalk village and still-Indian reserve Kimsquit is located immediately east across Dean Channel, Chatscah Indian Reserve No. 2 is immediately north at the mouth of the Kimsquit River.
The Asseek River is a river in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, flowing north out of the Pacific Ranges to enter saltwater at the head of South Bentinck Arm. The name has been used since 1930, but an earlier map from 1913 shows it as the Talolail River. Also entering South Bentinck Arm a few miles north on the east side of the inlet is the Taleomey River, whose estuary forms Taleomey Narrows, a constriction of the inlet, and also where is the location of Taleomy Indian Reserve No. 3 of the Nuxalk Nation. Another constriction south of the Taleomey estuary, and immediately north of the Asseek's mouth is Bentinck Narrows, which is formed by the alluvial fan of Ickna Creek.
Tallheo Hot Springs is a hot spring located on the west shore of South Bentinck Arm, an inlet on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located southwest of the community of Bella Coola. The hot springs, which are known as Ix7piixm in the Nuxalk language, are located opposite Bensins Island, the only island in South Bentinck Arm.
The Necleetsconnay River is a river in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, flowing southwest from the southernmost Kitimat Ranges to the head of North Bentinck Arm, adjacent to the mouth of the Bella Coola River and the town of Bella Coola.