Heiltsuk
The Heiltsuk , also known as Bella Bella , are a First Nation on the northwest Pacific coast in British Columbia , Canada . The political representation of the tribe is called Heiltsuk Nation , but this term also describes the entire group.
History and culture
The Bella Bella were living in their present area in the Canadian coastal rainforests as early as 1793 when Alexander MacKenzie completed his continental crossing. The Heiltsuk descend from tribal groups who settled around the present day Bella Bella on Campbell Island in the 19th century and were called the Bella Bella Indians . They had already had contact with Russian expedition ships before the English discovery by Alexander MacKenzie , which is why they were not surprised at the appearance of a white expedition.
The Bella Bella are known as a fishing culture . They hunted seals in ocean-going canoes .
They were feared by their neighboring tribes. They advised Alexander MacKenzie against his onward journey, which was also practiced by many other tribes in order to stand longer under the protection of armed whites and to get the coveted, metal barter goods of the Europeans.
Like many other tribes on the Canadian coast, they were hit by dramatic population declines caused by diseases brought in by European settlers and the so-called fur wars during the fur trade era .
Wolves , bears and whales are especially revered . Like other First Nations living in this habitat , e.g. B. Quileute , they derive their ancestry from the wolves and consolidate this still existing relationship to the animal world through so-called "wolf dances".
The designation Bella Bella is considered offensive by the members of the tribe themselves; they prefer the term Heiltsuk .
language
The Heiltsuk language belongs to the Wakashan language family . In this group, it is closely related to Wuikyala (the language of the Riverinlet peoples) as the Romance languages Spanish and French . Heiltsuk, Wuikyala, Haisla and Kwak`wala form the northern Wakashan language group. However, while Heiltsuk and Wuikyala are tonal languages and both are considered dialects of the Heiltsuk-Oowekyala language, Kwak`wala, for example, is neither.
