Bella Coola

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. Their ancestors probably separated from the main body of Salish and migrated northward. Although their material culture, ceremonials, and mythology resembled those of their Heiltsuq neighbours (see Kwakiutl), their social organization was similar to that of the more distant Salish.

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.

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. Salmon, taken in the summer, were eaten fresh or smoked; oil extracted from eulachon (candlefish) was used as a condiment. Life was organized on a village basis, with status dependent on both hereditary rank and wealth, measured by ostentatious giving at potlatches (q.v.). There was no formal political structure connecting Bella Coola communities to one another but rather a strong feeling of shared identity based on common language, common origin, and cultural pride. Secret societies were important, with an unusually well-developed pantheon of deities and great emphasis on numerous oral traditions.

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.