The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''

Thompson River The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The ri ...

Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Knife Indians'', and ''Couteau Indians'', are an

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

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 ...

people of the

Interior Salish The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first Salishan people encountered by American exp ...

language group in southern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Their traditional territory includes parts of the

North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in the U.S. and Canada as the Casca ...

region of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Other names

Frontier-era histories and maps transliterate the name Nlaka'pamux as ''Hakamaugh'' or ''Klackarpun''; they were also known as the ''Kootomin'', or ''Couteau'' (Knife). or ''Knife Indians''. In the dialect of the

Thompson language The Thompson language, properly known as Nlaka'pamuctsin, also known as the Nlaka'pamux ('Nthlakampx') language, is an Interior Salishan language spoken in the Fraser Canyon, Thompson Canyon, Nicola Country of the Canadian province of British C ...

used by the

Ashcroft Indian Band The Ashcroft First Nation ( thp, sƛ̓ə́z) is a First Nations government Thompson Canyon area of the Central Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its Indian Reserves are located near the town of Ashcroft, British Columbia, i ...

, the variant ''Nl'akapxm'' is used. The Nlaka'pamux of the

Nicola Valley The Nicola Country, also known as the Nicola Valley and often referred to simply as The Nicola, and originally Nicolas' Country or Nicholas' Country, adapted to Nicola's Country and simplified since, is a region in the Southern Interior of British C ...

, who are all in the

Nicola Tribal Association Nicola may refer to: People * Nicola (name), including a list of people with the given name or, less commonly, the surname **Nicola (artist) or Nicoleta Alexandru, singer who represented Romania at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest * Nicola people ...

reserves refer to themselves as Scw'exmx and speak a different dialect of the

. Together with the Spaxomin people, a branch of the

Okanagan people The ''Syilx'' () people, also known as the Okanagan, Okanogan or Okinagan people, are a First Nations and Native American people whose traditional territory spans the Canada–US boundary in Washington state and British Columbia in the Okanagan ...

(Syilx) who live in the upper Nicola valley and also belong to the Nicola Tribal Association, they are collectively known as the Nicola people, or Nicolas.

Ethnobotany

Blueberries (''

Vaccinium myrtilloides ''Vaccinium myrtilloides'' is a shrub with common names including common blueberry, velvetleaf huckleberry, velvetleaf blueberry, Canadian blueberry, and sourtop blueberry. It is common in much of North America, reported from all 10 Canadian provi ...

'') are traditionally used by them in pies. They have used the leaves of sedge (''

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' ...

'') as brushes for cleaning things and also as

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used ...

for their livestock.

Religion

The Nlaka'pamux were the object of both

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

missionary efforts in the nineteenth century, resulting in the vast majority belonging to one of the two denominations by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Governments

The

Nlaka'pamux Nation Tribal Council The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...

despite its name does not include all Nlaka'pamux people, but is one of two main tribal bodies within the region, the other being the

. The

Lytton First Nation The Lytton First Nation ( thp, ƛ̓q̓əmci̓n), a First Nations band government, has its headquarters at Lytton in the Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. While it is the largest of all Nlaka'pamux bands, unlike ...

or Lytton Band, focussed on the town of the same name, which is named

Camchin Camchin, also spelled Kumsheen, is an anglicization of the ancient name for the locality and aboriginal village once located on the site of today's village of Lytton, British Columbia, Canada, whose name in Nlaka'pamuctsin is ''ƛ'q'əmcín''. It a ...

or Kumsheen in the Nlaka'pamux language and is one of the largest Nlaka'pamux communities, does not belong to any of the three tribal associations. While the Upper Nicola Band is affiliated with the Scw’exmx Tribal Council it is a Syilx community and part of the

Okanagan Nation Alliance The Okanagan Nation Alliance is a First Nations Tribal Council in the Canadian province of British Columbia, spanning the Nicola, Okanagan and Similkameen Districts of the Canadian province of British Columbia and also the Colville Indian Rese ...

it is not Nlaka'pamux and has a different traditional territory than the other Nlaka'pamux Bands. None of the Nlaka'pamux governments are in the

British Columbia Treaty Commission The British Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP) is a land claims negotiation process started in 1993 to resolve outstanding issues, including claims to un-extinguished indigenous rights, with British Columbia's First Nations. Two treaties have been ...

process at present.List of First Communities in BC, BC Treaty Commission
/ref>

Nlaka'pamux Nation Tribal Council

* Boothroyd Indian Band * Boston Bar Indian Band * Oregon Jack Creek Indian Band * Spuzzum Indian Band * Lytton Indian Band * Skuppah Indian Band

Scw’exmx Tribal Council
(Originally Nicola Tribal Association or NTA)

* Shackan Indian Band (Original NTA) * Nooaitch Indian Band (Original NTA) *

Upper Nicola Band The Upper Nicola Band is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located near the town of Merritt in the Nicola Country at Douglas Lake. Known in the Okanagan language as the Spaxomin, they are a member of ...

(Original NTA)(A member of the

) *

Coldwater Indian Band Coldwater First Nation ( thp, C'eletkwmx) is a Nlaka'pamux First Nations government located in the Central Interior region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Scw’exmx Tribal Council, which are two of three tri ...

(Original NTA) *

Lower Nicola Indian Band Lower Nicola Indian Band ( thp, Nʔeʔiyk) is a Nlaka'pamux First Nations government, located in the Central Interior region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Lower Nicola Indian Band reserve community and offices are located at ...

(Affiliated)

Unaffiliated

Kanaka Bar Indian Band Kanaka Bar First Nation (Thompson language: T'eqt'aqtn'mux) is a First Nations government located at Kanaka Bar, British Columbia, Canada, between the towns of Boston Bar and Lytton in the Fraser Canyon region. It is a member of the Fraser Canyo ...

* Siska Indian Band * Cook's Ferry Indian Band * Nicomen Indian Band (Former member of the

Fraser Canyon Indian Administration The Fraser Canyon Indian Administration is a First Nations tribal council government composed of five bands in the Fraser Canyon and Thompson Canyon areas of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Other Nlaka'pamux governments belong to eit ...

)

Language

The Nlaka'pamux speak an

an language named ', usually transliterated as Nlaka'pamuxtsn and known in English as the

. The Scw'exmx of the

speak a dialect also called ''Scw'exmx''.

Notable people

* G. A. Grisenthwaite, writer *

Kevin Loring Kevin Loring (born November 24, 1974) is a Canadian playwright and actor. As a playwright, he won the Governor General's Award for English-language drama, the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition and the Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding O ...

, writer *

Terese Marie Mailhot Terese Marie Mailhot (born 15 June 1983) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nation Canadian (people), Canadian writer, journalist, memoirist, and teacher. Early life and education Mailhot grew up in Sea Bird Island (British Columbia), Seabird ...

, writer * Sharon McIvor, activist *

Ilona Verley Ilona Verley is a Canadian-American drag queen, most known for competing on the first season of ''Canada's Drag Race''. Early life Verley was raised in Surrey, British Columbia. They attended the Blanche MacDonald Centre in Vancouver for make-u ...

, drag queen and make-up artist *

Annie York Annie Zixtkwu York (September 21, 1904 - August 19, 1991) was a distinguished elder of the Nlaka'pamux people (also known as Thompson) of the Spuzzum First Nation of Spuzzum, in Fraser Canyon located in the lower region of British Columbia, Canad ...

, writer

Notes

Bibliography

* ''Thompson River Salish Dictionary'' Compiled by Laurence C. Thompson and M. Terry Thompson * ''They Write Their Dreams on the Rock Forever: Rock Writings in the Stein River Valley of British Columbia'' (with Chris Arnett and Richard Daly * ''Spuzzum: Fraser Canyon Histories,'' with Andrea LaForet * ''Historical Atlas of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest'', Derek Hayes, Cavendish Books, Vancouver (1999) ISBN * ''The Resettlement of British Columbia: Essays on Colonialism & Geographical Change'', University of British Columbia Press; New Ed edition (January 1997) ISBN * * ''NLaka'pamux Language'' CD by Barbara Joe(2005) * ''Shackan Stories'' by Jim Toodlican(2006) {{Authority control Interior Salish Native American history of Washington (state)