The traditional territory of the Heiltsuk is on the central coast of British Columbia near the town of Bella Bella, including many islands, inlets and valleys. In the Northwest Coast Hall, the Heiltsuk culture is grouped within the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw culture because they speak a related language. But the two are distinct nations.
Population: 2,245 (as of 2014) Language:Hailhzaqvla
IN HEILTSUK TERRITORY
Heiltsuk Hub
Bella Bella (Waglisla), British Columbia
Bella Bella is the largest Heiltsuk community today. It is accessible only by airplane or boat. Ferry service links Bella Bella to other coastal towns. The large blue building in the foreground is the hospital and behind it, the Bella Bella Community School.
Image credit: W. Atlas
Local School
Bella Bella, British Columbia
Heiltsuk people opened Bella Bella Community School in 1977 to provide an education from kindergarten through high school. Before that, Heiltsuk children had to leave home and live in distant communities to attend school beyond seventh grade. The shape of the building resembles an eagle.
Image credit: S. Schmidt
Local School
Bella Bella, British Columbia
Classes at the Bella Bella Community School incorporate Heiltsuk traditions, culture, and language into all grades. Here, Kvai-Lynn Jones-Housty shows her harvest of herring roe, or eggs, on branches during a fourth-grade field trip focused on this traditional food.
Image credit: C. Foster
Canoe Journey
Bella Bella (Waglisla), British Columbia
Canoes arrive in Bella Bella, British Columbia in 2014. The Heiltsuk were the host community for that year’s Tribal Canoe Journey.
Image credit: D. Moskowitz
Transitional Town
‘Qélc
Old Bella Bella, or ‘Qélc, is actually not the oldest village in the Heiltsuk region. It was near here that the Hudson’s Bay Company set up a fort and store in the mid-1800s. Many Heiltsuk people moved from their traditional villages to ‘Qélc to take advantage of trading opportunities here. Deaths from smallpox and flu epidemics also led survivors to consolidate in ‘Qélc.
Image credit: Royal BC Museum and Archives B03570
Transitional Town
‘Qélc
In 1898, the people of ‘Qélc relocated to present-day Bella Bella (Waglisla) two miles north. They took some precious cultural items such as totem poles with them, but other items met different ends. In 1900, the owners of this carved post supporting a dilapidated house in ‘Qélc sold it to the local Methodist missionary. The missionary then sold the post to this museum. The carving depicts a mother bear and her cub. It is visible in the Coast Salish alcove in this hall.
Image credit: AMNH Library 42852
FROM THE COLLECTIONS: Heiltsuk Chief of the Ghosts mask
Chief of the Ghosts mask
With his cratered face, Qomisila, Chief of the Ghosts, is a frightening figure from a Heiltsuk story. He materializes in the forest, dances around a fire, then sinks into the underworld. When a dancer wore this mask to reenact Qomisila’s story, he’d insert different mouthpieces to mimic the emotions of his audience. Drag the slider to see the mouth change.
This mask is from Heiltsuk territory on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada.
AMNH 16/4731 and 16/4805, acquired 1899
STEWARDSHIP OF THE LAND
Research and Monitoring
Koeye River, British Columbia
The territory of the Heiltsuk nation lies within the Great Bear Rainforest, one of the largest tracts of unspoiled temperate rainforest in the world. Mapping habitat in this forest and monitoring its species are among many Heiltsuk efforts to document and protect their lands.
Heiltsuk researcher William Housty of Qqs Project Society collects a tuft of grizzly bear hair caught on a wire. By examining DNA from the hair, he and colleagues identified nearly more than 100 individual bears. Many of the grizzlies traveled hundreds of miles from surrounding areas to feed on autumn-spawning salmon in the Koeye River.
Image credit: M. Godfrey
Research and Monitoring
Koeye River, British Columbia
A Heiltsuk-led research collaboration in the area of the Koeye River estuary includes surveys of grizzly bears and monitoring of salmon populations and water flow. Knowledge about the interwoven ecologies of bears, salmon and people helps guide Heiltsuk stewardship of the area.
Image credit: M. Godfrey
Research and Monitoring
Yáláthi (Goose Island Archipelago), British Columbia
Ecological monitoring of Yáláthi, or Goose Island, is part of a Heiltsuk Nation initiative to preserve traditional territory. This outer island is biologically diverse and culturally rich. One Heiltsuk family line traces its origins to a supernatural eagle that lived here, making Yáláthi their homeland. In this picture, Heiltsuk high school students hike in 2015 on a Yáláthi beach. Since the beach faces the Pacific Ocean, a lot of driftwood washes up during winter storms.
Image credit: J. Gordon-Walker
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Future Ecologists
Yáláthi (Goose Island Archipelago), British Columbia
Students from several First Nations whose territory lies in the Great Bear Rainforest participate in the Supporting Emerging Aboriginal Stewards (SEAS) program. The initiative aims to connect young people to nature in their aboriginal territory. Here, biologist Diana Chan of conservation organization Pacific Wild discovers an octopus at Cágvaís, or Cockle Bay, while Bella Bella sixth grader Jayden Newman looks on.
Image credit: J. Gordon-Walke
Future Ecologists
Yáláthi (Goose Island Archipelago), British Columbia
Students from several First Nations whose territory lies in the Great Bear Rainforest participate in the Supporting Emerging Aboriginal Stewards (SEAS) program. The initiative aims to connect young people to nature in their aboriginal territory. Here, biologist Diana Chan of conservation organization Pacific Wild discovers an octopus at Cágvaís, or Cockle Bay, while Bella Bella sixth grader Jayden Newman looks on.
Image credit: J. Gordon-Walke
OCEAN RESOURCES
Sustainable Harvest
Central Coast, British Columbia
Heiltsuk fishermen collect herring roe, or eggs, which are laid on kelp—a traditional Northwest Coast food that is also favored in Japan. Large-scale commercial fishing caused herring populations to crash. Under pressure from the Heiltsuk Nation, in 2016 the Canadian government barred commercial herring boats in Spiller Channel and other areas, giving the herring a chance to rebound.
Image credit: I. McAllister/Pacific Wild
Sustainable Harvest
Central Coast, British Columbia
In the spring, Pacific herring make their way from the ocean to sheltered bays and estuaries to spawn (lay their eggs). Unlike salmon, the adult herring return to the ocean after spawning and can complete this cycle several times.
Ian McAllister/Pacific Wild
After the Salmon
Namu, British Columbia
Namu was once a thriving cannery town of several hundred people, employing Heiltsuk men and women to pack salmon, shown here in 1945. In the mid-1900s, freezing became the preferred way to preserve fish, and canneries closed all along the Northwest Coast.
Image credit: Library and Archives Canada
After the Salmon
Namu, British Columbia
Today Namu no longer thrives. Its abandoned cannery facilities were adding fuel and other contaminants to the harbor, so the Heiltsuk nation pushed for a clean-up, which was recently completed by the Canadian government. The nation hopes to revitalize Namu in the future as a satellite community for Bella Bella as Bella Bella’s population grows.
Image credit: Macatay
ANCIENT FOOTPRINTS
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Ancient Footprints
Calvert Island, British Columbia
People have lived along the Northwest Coast for thousands of years. In 2015 archaeologists unearthed new evidence impressed in clay—a dozen human footprints that may be more than 13,000 years old.
Image credit: J. Silberg
Ancient Footprints
Calvert Island, British Columbia
People have lived along the Northwest Coast for thousands of years. In 2015 archaeologists unearthed new evidence impressed in clay—a dozen human footprints that may be more than 13,000 years old.
Image credit: J. Silberg
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Heiltsuk oral history documents their ancestors in this area, which is in Heiltsuk territory. If further research confirms their age, these footprints would be the oldest ones known in North America.
Image credit: J. Silberg
Heiltsuk oral history documents their ancestors in this area, which is in Heiltsuk territory. If further research confirms their age, these footprints would be the oldest ones known in North America.
Image credit: J. Silberg
Take No More Than You Need
Koeye River, British Columbia
In 2013, Heiltsuk community members constructed this sockeye salmon weir across the Koeye River. The first weir built in more than a century, the fence-like structure allows Heiltsuk ecologists to tag and count salmon caught in the weir in order to harvest sustainably.
