Nemaiah Valley, also spelled Nemiah Valley and Nemaia Valley, is an unincorporated locality and

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

and

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

ing community between

Chilko Lake Chilko may refer to: *Chilko River The Chilko River is a river in the Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, flowing northeast from Chilko Lake to the Chilcotin River. Its main tributary is the Taseko River. Th ...

and the

Taseko Lakes The Taseko Lakes are a pair of lakes, Upper Taseko Lake and Lower Taseko Lake, which are expansions of the upper Taseko River in the southern Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Their name is based on the orig ...

in the

Chilcotin District The Chilcotin () region of British Columbia is usually known simply as "the Chilcotin", and also in speech commonly as "the Chilcotin Country" or simply Chilcotin. It is a plateau and mountain region in British Columbia on the inland lee of the Co ...

of the

Central Interior of British Columbia Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. It is the home of the

Xeni Gwet'in The Xeni Gwet'in, also known as the Stone Chilcotin, are a First Nations people whose traditional territory is located in the southern Chilcotin District of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the inland flank of the Coast Mountains west ...

band of the Tsilhqot'in people. Associated Indian Reserves are the Garden Indian Reserve No. 2, Tanakut Indian Reserve No. 4, Lohbiee Indian Reserve No. 3, and Lezbye Indian Reserve No.6. The name of Konni Lake, located near the eastern end of Nemaiah Valley, is derived from the

Tsilhqot'in language ''Nenqayni Ch’ih'' (lit. "the Native way") (also Chilcotin, Tŝilhqotʹin, Tsilhqot’in, Tsilhqút’in) is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken in British Columbia by the Tsilhqot’in people. The name ''Chilcotin'' is derived from the Ch ...

name ''Xeni''.

Origin of name

" Nemiah was the leader f the people who lived at Konni Lakewho first met with white chiefs 10 generations ago.", (quote in

BCGNIS The BC Geographical Names (formerly BC Geographical Names Information System or BCGNIS) is a geographic name web service and database for the Canadian province of British Columbia run by the Base Mapping and Geomatic Services Branch of the Integra ...

from ''The Traveller's Guide to Aboriginal British Columbia'', by Cheryl Coull; Whitecap Books, Vancouver; 1996).

References

* Lane, Robert (1953) ''Cultural Relations of the Chilcotin Indians of West Central British Columbia'', Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington. * Lane, Robert (1981) "Chilcotin." In June Helm (ed.), ''Handbook of North American Indians: Subarctic, Vol.6.'', Smithsonian Institution, Washington. *

External links

Xeni Gwet'in homepage

Friends of the Nemaiah Valley website
{{authority control Populated places in the Chilcotin Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Indian reserves in British Columbia Tsilhqot'in communities Chilcotin Ranges