The Nuxalk people call themselves the Nuxalkmc. A century ago, anthropologists called them the Bella Coola. Traditional Nuxalk territory is the central coast of British Columbia, from the mouth of the Bella Coola River inland along the Bella Coola Valley and nearby inlets and channels.
Population: Approximately 1,660 (as of 2013) Language: Nuxalk
IN NUXALK TERRITORY
Threshold to the Nuxalk Homeland
Bella Coola, British Columbia
The Hudson’s Bay Company established a fur trading post here in 1869, about 75 miles (120 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean. Today the town is a gateway to tourism in the Bella Coola Valley, an important part of the local economy. Visitors can find outfitters for fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing, as well as galleries featuring the work of Nuxalk artists. It is also home to the Nuxalk government.
Image credit: M. Wigle
Counting Crabs
Bella Coola Estuary, British Columbia
Recreational and commercial fishing have depleted crab populations in Nuxalk and nearby territories. Here Nuxalk researchers Ernie Tallio and John Sampson gather data on Dungeness crabs to provide a basis for sustainable fishing.
Image credit: Coastal First Nations–Great Bear Initiative
Tree of Life
Big Cedars Trail, Bella Coola, B.C.
Nuxalk and other Northwest Coast people have traditionally relied on fish and other resources of the sea, but the forest has been essential to them, too. Western red cedar trees provided bark for clothing, rope, tools and baskets, and wood for canoes, house planks, boxes, masks and more—and are still used by artists today.
Image credit: S. Ogle/AGE Fotostock
FROM THE COLLECTIONS: Nuxalk sun mask
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Sun mask
This mask features Senx, the sun—the heavenly creator of the Nuxalk people. In their tradition, Senx sent four supernatural carpenters to Earth to make humans and shape their world. These four are shown on the rim of this striking carving, which was “floated” in big house ceremonies dramatizing the creation story.
This mask is from Nuxalk territory on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada.
AMNH 16/1507, made about 1870
Sun mask
This mask features Senx, the sun—the heavenly creator of the Nuxalk people. In their tradition, Senx sent four supernatural carpenters to Earth to make humans and shape their world. These four are shown on the rim of this striking carving, which was “floated” in big house ceremonies dramatizing the creation story.
This mask is from Nuxalk territory on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada.
AMNH 16/1507, made about 1870
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The Nuxalk nation depicts this sun mask on their national flag as a universal crest of all Nuxalkmc, or Nuxalk people.
Image credit: Nuxalk Smayusta
The Nuxalk nation depicts this sun mask on their national flag as a universal crest of all Nuxalkmc, or Nuxalk people.
Image credit: Nuxalk Smayusta
NUXALK VILLAGES
Inland Village
Kimsquit (Suts'lhm), 1881
Kimsquit was one of about 45 documented Nuxalk villages in the early 1900s. It was located at the mouth of the Dean River, which is abundant with fish.
Image credit: AMNH Library 39988
Boardwalk
Q’um’kuts Village
The Nuxalk village of Q’um’kuts, shown here in 1897, was situated on the Bella Coola River across from where the Canadian town of Bella Coola is today. The Nuxalk built their houses on stilts, facing the shore, with the front doors opening onto a boardwalk.
Image credit: Canadian Museum of History 46917
Boardwalk
Q’um’kuts Village
European traders brought diseases, as well as goods, to Nuxalk territory in the 1800s. A smallpox epidemic that began in 1862 decimated the Nuxalk population. The survivors, about 300 in all, left most of the Nuxalk villages in the Bella Coola River Valley and consolidated in Q’um’kuts, shown here in 1909.
Image credit: AMNH Library 46082
FROM THE COLLECTIONS: Nuxalk eagle headdress
Eagle headdress
This elaborate headdress not only has eagle carvings, but also eagle down—their fluffy underfeathers. Across the Northwest Coast, eagle down is a sign of peace, often sprinkled during welcome dances and other ceremonies of honor.
This headdress is from Nuxalk territory on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada.
AMNH 16/1900, acquired 1897
TERRITORY RECLAIMED
Territory Reclaimed
Talyu Village, British Columbia
In 2009, as part of an effort to mark and protect ancestral lands, Nuxalk people raised a totem pole at Talyu, a former village site. Here, three staltmc, or Nuxalk chiefs—Sixilaaxayc, Snuxyaltwa and Qwatsinas—participate in the raising. For decades, the Nuxalk have contested clear-cut logging nearby. In 2016 First Nations, including the Nuxalk, reached an agreement with the British Columbia government to prohibit logging in most of the region.
Image credit: P. Hunt
Territory Reclaimed
Talyu Village, British Columbia
Talyu was once a large village, but by the time of this photo, in 1913, few people remained. Many had died of smallpox and other diseases. The Canadian government relocated the last survivors in the 1960s, and loggers burned the remaining houses soon after.
Image credit: Royal BC Museum and Archives PN 10978
