In
1793,
Alexander Mackenzie and his group of explorers visited the Bella Coola valley, historically occupied
by the Nuxalk peoples.
1 From the mid-
1800s onwards, Bella Coola was a central area for trade; the Nuxalk peoples participated
in the fur trade, not only selling fur of the animals they caught but also trading
with other First Nations groups for furs that they could later sell to the Europeans.
2 Contact with Europeans brought smallpox, among other diseases, and it is estimated
that roughly three quarters of the Nuxalk population was wiped out.
3 In
1867, The Hudson’s Bay Company established a post in the Bella Coola Valley.
4