Nuxalk Nation

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Nuxalk Nation
Flagge Nuxalk Nation.png
Bella Coola Indians - Native North America med.jpg
Religious ceremony with Totems and the playing of frame drums, from an edition of 1897, illustration by Wilhelm Sievers
Total population
1,479 [1]
Regions with significant populations
Bella Coola, British Columbia
Languages
English, Nuxálk
Related ethnic groups
other Nuxalk people
Nuxalk Nation masks, collection of the UBC Museum of Anthropology Nuxalk masks (UBC-2010a).jpg
Nuxalk Nation masks, collection of the UBC Museum of Anthropology

The Nuxalk Nation is the band government of the Nuxalk people of Bella Coola, British Columbia. It is a member of the Wuikinuxv-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council, and until March 2008 was a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. The population is 1,479. [1]

Contents

Etymology

"Nuxalk" is singular; "Nuxalkmc" is plural.[ citation needed ]

Community

Q'umk'uts', a Nuxalk community that is located at the confluence of the Bella Coola River and the Pacific Ocean is currently home to the majority of the Nuxalk population, is located in the Bella Coola Valley, in British Columbia. It is on the Nation's primary reserve (which is much smaller than the Nation's traditional territory), adjacent to the Bella Coola "townsite", the Central business district for the Valley. Nuxalk Hall is a community center, where potlatches and social events are held. The Nuxalk Basketball Association hosts games in the hall. [1]

The Nuxalkmc were wrongfully categorized as Coast Salish. Today the Nuxalkmc are classified under their own distinct category.

Language

The Nuxalk Nation traditionally has spoken the Nuxalk language. Today there are an estimated 5 fluent speakers, 80 conversational speakers, and 140 learning speakers. [1] Nuxalk-language radio programming and work towards an expanded Nuxalk-English dictionary and a new online phrasebook started in 2014.

History

Located at the mouth of the Bella Coola River, the nation was only accessible by foot, air, or boat until 1953, when a road was constructed. Nuxalk people have lived in the region for millennia. Norwegian people settled in the area in the 1890s. [1] It is estimated the population of the Nuxalkmc people were in the thousands amongst different villages. Stories suggest there were approximately ten thousand to thirty thousand spanning the whole Bella Coola Valley and surrounding inlets.

In February 2023, a Nuxalk Nation totem pole was returned to the nation by the Royal British Columbia Museum. [2] The totem pole was stolen from the nation in 1913 and sold to the museum for $45. [2]

Ethnobotany

The Nuxalk apply a poultice of pounded roots of Ranunculus acris to boils. [3] They take a decoction of Antennaria howellii leaves for body pain, but not pain in the limbs. [4]

A full list of their ethnobotany can be found at http://naeb.brit.org/uses/tribes/21/ (387 documented plant uses).

See also

Related Research Articles

Nuxalk, also known as Bella Coola, is a Salishan language spoken by the Nuxalk people. Today, it is an endangered language in the vicinity of the Canadian town of Bella Coola, British Columbia. While the language is still sometimes called Bella Coola by linguists, the native name Nuxalk is preferred by some, notably by the Nuxalk Nation's government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dakelh</span> Ethnic group

The Dakelh or Carrier are the indigenous people of a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Another name the Dakelh/Carrier call themselves is Yinka Dene, the Babine-Witsuwitʼen-speaking bands prefer the equivalent Yinka Whut'en.

Bella Coola could refer to the following:

Oowekyala, also Ooweekeeno and ’Wuik̓ala in the language itself, is a dialect of Heiltsuk–Oowekyala, a Northern Wakashan language spoken around Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv, whose government is the Wuikinuxv Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heiltsuk</span> Indigenous people of Central Coast, British Columbia, Canada

The Heiltsuk or Haíɫzaqv, sometimes historically referred to as Bella Bella, are an Indigenous people of the Central Coast region in British Columbia, centred on the island community of Bella Bella. The government of the Heiltsuk people is the Heiltsuk Nation, though the term is also used to describe the community. Its largest community is Bella Bella.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bella Coola, British Columbia</span> Town in British Columbia, Canada

Bella Coola is a unincorporated community in the Bella Coola Valley of 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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagensborg</span> Community in the country of Canada

Hagensborg, originally named Kristiania, is a small community in the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia, Canada. Its census population in 2006 was 248.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Coast art</span>

Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America, from pre-European-contact times up to the present.

The WuikinuxvIPA:[ʔuwik'inuxʷ],, also rendered Oweekano (Pre-1976); Oowekeeno (1976-2003) are an Indigenous First Nations people of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, located around Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake, to the north of Queen Charlotte Strait. The Wuikinuxv people and their neighbours the Heiltsuk and Haisla peoples were in the past sometimes known incorrectly as the "Northern Kwakiutl".

Heiltsuk–Oowekyala is a Northern Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language spoken in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv (Oweekeno) and Heiltsuk peoples. It has two dialects, Heiltsuk and Oowekyala (Wuikyala), which unlike other Wakashan languages are tonal. It has no traditional name, so the hyphenated construction Heiltsuk–Oowekyala is used by linguists. Ethnologue calls this language "Heiltsuk", with the Bella Bella dialect (Heiltsuk) labelled "Northern Heiltsuk" and the Oowekyala dialect labeled "Southern Heiltsuk".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast</span>

The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term Northwest Coast or North West Coast is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Washington State, parts of Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. The term Pacific Northwest is largely used in the American context.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallheo</span> Place in British Columbia, Canada

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 Wuikinuxv-Kitasoo Xai'xais-Nuxalk Tribal Council, formerly the Oweekeno-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council, is a First Nations tribal council comprising band governments of three indigenous peoples of the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. The tribal council, composed of three band governments, spans four different cultures and languages:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salish peoples</span> Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest

The Salish peoples are indigenous peoples of the American and Canadian Pacific Northwest, identified by their use of the Salish languages which diversified out of Proto-Salish between 3,000 and 6,000 years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuxalk</span> Salishan ethnic group of British Columbia, Canada

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 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. 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.

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nuxalk Nation". First Peoples' Language Map of British Columbia. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 Elassar, Alaa (2023-02-19). "The Nuxalk Nation's totem pole was stolen and sold to a museum. After waiting 110 years, they finally have it back". CNN. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  3. Smith 1929, p. 57.
  4. Smith 1929, p. 65.

Bibliography