The Heiltsuk or Haíɫzaqv, sometimes historically referred to as Bella Bella, are an Indigenous people of the Central Coast region in British Columbia, centred on the island community of Bella Bella. The government of the Heiltsuk people is the Heiltsuk Nation, though the term is also used to describe the community. Its largest community is Bella Bella.
Detail of a 19th-century bentwood chest by Heiltsuk artist Captain Richard Carpenter (Du'klwayella)
Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) (Native American). House Post, from a Set of Four, 19th century. Cedar wood, Brooklyn Museum
Heiltsuk, Ladle with Skull, 19th century, Brooklyn Museum
Richard Carpenter bent-wood chest detail 01
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term Northwest Coast or North West Coast is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Washington State, parts of Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. The term Pacific Northwest is largely used in the American context.
Chief Anotklosh of the Taku Tribe of the Tlingit people, ca. 1913
Ceremonial cape, Tlingit people
Kwakwakaʼwakw people at a wedding ceremony in 1914
A Kwakwakaʼwakw canoe in 1910.
