The Bella Coola tribe lived off the produce from the river and ocean and constructed their plankhouses and dugout canoes from the abundant Red Cedar trees. The Bella Coola were one of only six tribes of Northwest Indians who erected Totem Poles.
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What is the history of Bella Coola?
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Bella Coola, also called Nuxalk, North American Indians whose villages were located in what is now the central British Columbia coast, along the upper Dean and Burke channels and the lower parts of the Bella Coola River valley.
What kind of wood did Bella Coola use?
Bella Coola. They used wood for houses, canoes, and watertight boxes that served a variety of domestic purposes. Cedar bark provided fibres for clothing, baskets were made of cedar and spruce, and alder and cedar were carved into masks and other ceremonial objects, including spectacular totem poles.
How many people live in the Bella Coola?
In 1996 their registered population was 1185, with 706 people living on the reserve. The term "Bella Coola" once referred collectively to the Nuxalk, Talio, Kimsquit and some Kwatna who inhabited villages around North Bentinck Arm and the Bella Coola Valley, South Bentinck Arm, Dean Channel and Kwatna Inlet.
What language do they speak in Bella Coola?
Bella Coola Village. They speak a Coast Salish language known as Bella Coola that is isolated from the other Salish languages of the coast and forms a linguistic island surrounded by Dene and Wakashan languages. Culturally the Nuxalk are most similar to their Wakashan neighbours, the Heiltsuk (Bella Bella).
What is the Bella Coola tribe known for?
The Bella Coola tribe lived off the produce from the river and ocean and constructed their plankhouses and dugout canoes from the abundant Red Cedar trees. The Bella Coola were one of only six tribes of Northwest Indians who erected Totem Poles.
What kind of house did the Bella Coola tribe live in?
plank-built housesTraditionally, the Bella Coola lived in permanent villages of large plank-built houses occupied by a number of families. They used wood for houses, canoes, and watertight boxes that served a variety of domestic purposes.
How did Bella Coola get their food?
They relied on fishing, along with hunting and gathering, for their food supply. The cultural resources created by Northwest Coast artists reflect the riches of the region. This frontlet a wooden forehead carving and attached headdress was made by the Bella Coola, or Nuxalk (nu-hawk).
Does the Bella Coola tribe still exist?
The Bella Coola tribe (also known as the Nuxalk people) is a Northwest Indian Tribe located in the area of Bella Coola, British Columbia. They are a First Nation that speaks the Nuxalk language. Similar to the Bella Bella tribe, the Bella Coola tribe has existed for many years and is still active today.
How did Bella Coola get its name?
Name. "Bella Coola" is an exonym and corruption of the Heiltsuk bḷ́xʷlá, meaning "somebody from Bella Coola" or "stranger".
What nation is Bella Coola?
The Nuxalk Nation is the government of the Nuxalk people of Bella Coola, British Columbia.
Where is Nuxalk territory?
British ColumbiaTraditional 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.
What language family is Nuxalk?
Salish language familyClassification. Nuxalk forms its own subgroup of the Salish language family.
Where did Salish live?
Coast Salish, Salish-speaking North American Indians of the Northwest Coast, living around what are now the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound, southern Vancouver Island, much of the Olympic Peninsula, and most of western Washington state. One Salishan group, the Tillamook, lived south of the Columbia River in Oregon.
What did the Bella Coola wear?
What did they wear? Bella Coola men wear no clothes and the women just wears skirts made from cedar barks and they just use capes during the cold season.
What is the meaning of Bella Coola?
noun, plural Bel·la·coo·las, (especially collectively) Bel·la·coo·la for 1. a member of a riverine tribe of North American Indians inhabiting an area near the central coast of British Columbia. the language of this group, belonging to the Salishan family.
How old are the petroglyphs in Bella Coola?
between 5,000 and 10,000 years oldAncient carvings The petroglyphs, which consist of images from the animal and supernatural worlds, have been estimated to be somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 years old, Nelson said.
What food did the Bella Coola tribe eat?
Diet The Bella Coola enjoyed a fairly regular food supply. Fish were the staple, including five types of salmon plus steelhead trout, rainbow and cutthroat trout, eulachon, Pacific herring, and others. All fish was boiled, roasted, or smoke dried. Eulachon was very valuable, perhaps more for its grease than as food.
Where did Salish live?
Coast Salish, Salish-speaking North American Indians of the Northwest Coast, living around what are now the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound, southern Vancouver Island, much of the Olympic Peninsula, and most of western Washington state. One Salishan group, the Tillamook, lived south of the Columbia River in Oregon.
How many people did the Bella Coola tribe have?
It has been estimated that their population was approximately 35,000.
Where is Bella Coola?
The Bella Coola tribe (also known as the Nuxalk people) is a Northwest Indian Tribe located in the area of Bella Coola, British Columbia.
What tribes have never surrendered their land?
The Bella Coola tribe (Also known as the Nuxalk Nation) has long asserted its rights and obligations and has never ceded, sold, surrendered, nor lost traditional lands through acts of war or by treaty. The Bella Coola remain strongly against entering any treaty process.