Bella Coola
Bella Coola is a community in the Bella Coola Valley, in 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 offic…
What did Bella Coola use for clothing?
Bella Coola. 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. Fish was their basic food source, supplemented by hunting and by collecting wild plant foods.
What is another name for Bella Coola?
See Article History. Alternative Title: Nuxalk. 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 language did Bella Coola speak?
Bella Coola. Written By: 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. They spoke a Salishan language related to that of the Coast Salish (q.v.) to the south.
How many Bella Coola were there?
The Bella Coola probably numbered about 5,000 at the time of their first contacts with Europeans but were reduced by disease in the 19th century to less than 1,000 people, most living in a single village. Bella Coola and other Salish descendants numbered more than 21,000 in the early 21st century.
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.
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.
What is Bella Coola known for?
Bella Coola is known in most parts of the world for the artisan craftsmanship in woodcarving, painting & ceremonial dress.
What language did the Bella Coola speak?
Salishan languageBella 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. They spoke a Salishan language related to that of the Coast Salish (q.v.) to the south.
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".
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.
Is Bella Coola native land?
(See also First Nations and Northwest Coast Indigenous Peoples in Canada.) The Nuxalk are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their traditional territories are in and around Bella Coola, British Columbia....Nuxalk (Bella Coola)Published OnlineFebruary 6, 2006Last EditedDecember 10, 2021Feb 6, 2006
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.
Where can I swim in Bella Coola?
Just southwest of Bella Coola, Blue Jay Lake has campsites, lakeside picnic areas, and is a popular spot for canoeing, angling and swimming.
How much snow does Bella Coola get?
Bella Coola is blessed with plentiful and reliable snow. Most years there is a 4 to 5 metre base in the alpine with total snowfall averaging 20 to 30 metres (65 to 100 feet) over the course of the season (during the winter of 2011/2012, we had a 6 metre (20 foot) base at treeline and 10 metres (33 feet) in the alpine)!
Does it rain a lot in Bella Coola?
In Bella Coola, during the entire year, the rain falls for 219.8 days and collects up to 1473mm (57.99") of precipitation.
Does it rain a lot in Bella Coola?
In Bella Coola, during the entire year, the rain falls for 219.8 days and collects up to 1473mm (57.99") of precipitation.
What is the population of Bella Coola BC?
Bella Coola is a small community situated on the north arm of Burke Channel, where Alexander Mackenzie first sighted the Pacific in 1793. Bella Coola, BC, Unincorporated Place, population 95 (2011c), 135 (2006c).
How old is Bella Coola?
The history of the Valley dates back 10,000 years according to oral history and archeological estimates. The first Native People who lived in villages along the rivers and coastline were known as Bella Coola or Nuxalkmc people. Today´s visitors experience a community where history melds comfortably into everyday life.
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.
What did Bella Coola use for their houses?
Traditionally, 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 many people did Bella Coola have?
The Bella Coola probably numbered about 5,000 at the time of their first contacts with Europeans but were reduced by disease in the 19th century to less than 1,000 people, most living in a single village. Bella Coola and other Salish descendants numbered more than 21,000 in the early 21st century.
What were the items that were made from cedar and spruce?
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. Fish was their basic food source, supplemented by hunting and by collecting wild plant foods.
Traditional Territory
Nuxalk territory is in and around Bella Coola, British Columbia. By the 1920s, the Nuxalk — who had once enjoyed vast territories — were forced to come together at the village of Q’umk’uts’ (Komkotes), located at the mouth of the Bella Coola River. The Nuxalk have seven reserves total, measuring about 2,025 ha.
Population
In 1996, the registered Nuxalk population was 1,185, with 706 people living on the reserve. By 2021, the registered population had increased to 1,786, with 912 on reserve.
Language
The Nuxalk speak a Coast Salish language known as Nuxalk or Bella Coola. The language is isolated from other Coast Salish languages and it is distinct from the surrounding Dene and Wakashan languages. Culturally, the Nuxalk are most similar to their Wakashan neighbours, the Heiltsuk (Bella Bella).
Traditional Life
Nuxalk villages traditionally consisted of descent groups who traced their lineage to a group of first ancestors. According to oral history, each group of ancestors, equipped with tools and ceremonial knowledge, descended from a mountaintop and established a village at its base.
Culture and Society
Traditionally, the most prominent characteristic of Nuxalk life was its extremely rich and complex ceremonialism dominated by the potlatch and various secret societies, including the sisaok and the kusiut.
History
The first recorded encounter with the Nuxalk occurred briefly in the summer of 1793 when Captain George Vancouver entered their waters. He was followed only weeks later by an overland exploration team headed by Alexander Mackenzie.
Governance
The Nuxalk are governed by both elected and hereditary chiefs. The Indian Act outlines protocols and procedures for elected systems of band government. Hereditary systems of government are specific to Indigenous nations.
