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The
Nuxalk Nation has been occupying and exercising our rights on the
lands, water and resources of our Ancestral Territory since time
immemorial. What is now known as the Nuxalk Nation is a mixture of many
villages that were distributed throughout Ancestral Nuxalk territory,
including the four largest villages of Talyumc to the south, Nutl'l
(Kimsquit) to the north, Kwalhtna to the west and Qomqots to the east.
Map of Nuxalk Territory (in blue)
click image to enlarge
Before
European contact, the Nuxalk population was approximately 35,000 (based
on oral histories and academic research). After the small pox epidemic
of 1862-64 (following waves of new gold seekers and settlers), Nuxalk
villages were devastated to approximately 300 survivors. Nuxalk people
were scattered throughout the territory and either relocated on their
own to survive, or were forcibly removed by the Department of Indian
Affairs, to form a settlement in what is now known as Bella Coola.
Knowledge of family ancestry remains strong in Nuxalk families,
including villages of descent, family crests, as well as songs and
dances that tell the histories of our people in our Smayustas.
Subsistence
activities on these lands and trading with other Nations have always
been central to the Nuxalk way of life. We are Salmon People of the
rainforest and without healthy and abundant lands and water, our very
existence is seriously threatened. We, the Nuxalk, maintain our rights
and title to our entire traditional territory and continue to strive to
maintain our traditional systems of governance and powers, citing a
long and rich cultural history as evidence of our continued use and
occupation.
Despite
the devastation of the small pox epidemic and the relocation of the
survivors to Bella Coola, the Nuxalk Nation has long asserted our
rights and obligations to our Ancestral Territory and has never ceded,
sold, surrendered, nor lost our traditional lands through act of war or
treaty. The Nuxalk remain strongly against entering any treaty process
as we know that our Ancestral lands have never been surrendered and
remain legally ours, in both our tradition and under Canadian law.
Current
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
(INAC) population estimates indicate
a total Nuxalk population of approximately 1400 with nearly 900 of
those living on the Nuxalk reserve in Bella Coola. However, according
to traditional Nuxalk government, the true Nuxalk population is closer
to 3,000. This number includes people of Nuxalk ancestry who are not
registered or may be registered to another Indian Band.
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