Nuxalk
The Nuxalk, also known historically as the Bella Coola, are an Indigenous people located primarily in the Bella Coola Valley of British Columbia, with a current population of approximately 1,820. Traditionally, they inhabited around sixty permanent villages characterized by distinctive cedar houses and relied heavily on fishing and hunting, particularly of mountain goats, for sustenance. Their social structure was complex, based on kinship and extended households, with practices such as potlatches playing a significant role in cultural and economic exchanges. Social mobility was possible despite a stratified society, which included nobility, commoners, and enslaved individuals.
The Nuxalk experienced significant upheaval due to contact with European explorers and subsequent societal changes, leading to shifts from traditional lifestyles to commercial fishing and logging. However, the 1970s marked a revitalization of Nuxalk culture, with a resurgence of traditional practices, music, and arts. Today, the Nuxalk Nation emphasizes the importance of cultural preservation and community health, providing various social services, including support for mental health and substance abuse issues. The Nation continues to honor its heritage while adapting to contemporary challenges, maintaining strong ties to its traditional territory and cultural practices.
On this Page
Nuxalk
- CATEGORY: Tribe
- CULTURE AREA: Northwest Coast
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Coast Salish
- PRIMARY LOCATION: Bella Coola Valley, British Columbia
- POPULATION SIZE: 1,820 (2024, Government of British Columbia)
The Nuxalk, once known as the Bella Coola, occupied approximately sixty permanent villages built of split/hewn rectangular cedar houses along the major rivers and streams in the narrow Bella Coola Valley; they intermarried and traded with the Carrier, Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin), and Heiltsuk (Bella Bella). A wide variety of fish was their major source of food, supplemented by various animals—particularly the mountain goat, which provided food, horn, and wool that was woven into blankets and capes. The Nuxalk wore fur robes and capes of woven cedar or rabbit skin.
Kinship was based on lineal ascent, and social organization centered on the extended household. Marriage was usually monogamous, though polygynous households existed. Though Nuxalk society was divided into nobility, commoners, and enslaved peoples, social mobility was possible. Potlatches acknowledged a change of status; they also served to redistribute goods and wealth and commemorate rites of passage. Each stage of life—birth, puberty, marriage, and death—called for a specific ritual. They had two secret societies, the sisaok and the kusiut. Status was gained through family affiliation, hunting skills, shamanism, oratory, and wealth—the latter counted in pleated red woodpecker scalp capes, obsidian blades, copper, dentalium, and enslaved peoples.
Captain George Vancouver first met and traded with the Nuxalk in 1793 while surveying. Alexander Mackenzie came overland, establishing the Hudson’s Bay Company post in 1869. The Nuxalk invited a Methodist minister, the Reverend William Pierce, a mixed-race Tsimshian, to establish a mission in Bella Coola. The people experienced drastic changes with depopulation and disease. By the 1900s, their traditional hunting, gathering, and fishing way of life had changed to one dominated by commercial fishing and logging.
The 1970s saw a period of revitalization for the Nuxalk. Musical recordings, legends, and records of older art forms were rediscovered. Increased interest in woodworking and weaving skills and a renaissance of traditional medicine and beliefs also occurred during the 1970s. In 1980, the Bella Coola Band Council, in establishing their sovereignty, referred to their people as the Nuxalk Nation. Most Nuxalk remained in the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia in the twenty-first century, near their traditional home. The Culture Department of the Nuxalk Nation provided cultural preservation through spiritual healing services, traditional medicine, and classes in cedar weaving. The Nuxalk Nation offered a wide variety of social services to its members, including programs in comprehensive health, wellness, and dental care; housing and infrastructure; and education and child development. The Nuxalk Nation specifically worked to develop programs to promote mental health and combat substance abuse.
Bibliography
"Complex-Care Housing Coming to Bella Coola." Vancouver Coastal Health, 20 May 2022, www.vch.ca/en/news/complex-care-housing-coming-bella-coola. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
Kennedy, Dorothy, and Randy Bouchard. "Nuxalk (Bella Coola)." The Canadian Encyclopedia, 10 Dec. 2021. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nuxalk-bella-coola. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
McIlwraith, T. F. The Bella Coola Indians. U of Toronto P, 1992.
"Nuxalk." American Museum of Natural History, www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/northwest-coast/nuxalk. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
"Nuxalk (Bella Coola) Nation - Province of British Columbia." Government of British Columbia, 15 Aug. 2024, www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/natural-resource-stewardship/consulting-with-first-nations/first-nations-negotiations/first-nations-a-z-listing/nuxalk-bella-coola-nation. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
Nuxalk Nation: Home, nuxalknation.ca. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.