Nuxalk Nation was an UNPO member between 1998 and 2008. 

The Nuxalk Nation, represented by the House of Smayusta (their traditional hereditary leadership), faces critical challenges around land rights, self-governance, language preservation, and economic sustainability. Their traditional territory, known as Kulhulmcilh (or Nuxalkulmc), is considered unceded, and the Nuxalk assert that colonial governments (provincial and federal) have never legitimately acquired title over their lands. 

Logging is a major point of contention: the House of Smayusta has strongly opposed industrial logging companies (notably Interfor) for clear-cutting in their ancestral forests, destroying vital ecosystems, old-growth trees, and areas of cultural significance. They argue that no proper consent has been given by the Nuxalk for such development, and that governments granting timber licenses do so without recognizing their sovereignty Similarly, they oppose fish farms, particularly salmon aquaculture, because of its threat to wild salmon populations, which are central to Nuxalk lifeways, food systems, and spiritual traditions.

The Nuxalk Nation’s identity is deeply rooted in their language, spiritual traditions, clan structure, and profound connection to their unceded territory (Kulhulmcilh). Their ceremonial life centers on smayusta, or potlatch governance, which is their traditional system of government, protocol, law, and intergenerational teaching. Salmon fishing, cedar craftsmanship, and multi-family villages have historically defined their way of life. Their laws (sliix, stl’cw, etc.) guide how they live on the land, how they fish, and how they care for plants, animals, and spiritual practices.

Language is central: the Nuxalk language (ItNuxalkmc) remains a core part of their identity, though it is endangered. According to Nuxalk Nation sources, they actively work on language revitalization, cultural education, and the transmission of traditional knowledge. Stewardship of land and water is not just material but spiritual: according to Nuxalk ancestral law, they are caretakers of their territories, charged with protecting not only their people but all beings, including fish, plants, animals, and future generations.

The Nuxalk people (Nuxalkmc) are the Indigenous inhabitants of Kulhulmcilh, their unceded territory on the Central Coast of British Columbia, including the Bella Coola Valley and surrounding inlets. Pre-contact, they had a highly developed society with distinct clan lineages, governance, and a trade economy: their eulachon-grease trading network (the “Sluq’alh / Grease Trail”) extended from Nuxalk rivers to the Rocky Mountains. The smallpox epidemic of 1862 (Usqalits’ txw) devastated the Nuxalk population: according to Nuxalk historical memory, their numbers dropped drastically, with only a few hundred survivors congregating at Q’umk’uts (Bella Coola) under Chief Waxit Pootlass. In response, Nuxalk leaders used traditional law to re-establish their nation, intermarrying among surviving lineages and reinforcing their cultural and legal structures.

They never signed treaties with the Canadian or British Columbia governments, maintaining that their title was never surrendered. Over time, colonial pressures—including logging, mining, and resource exploitation—challenged their sovereignty, but the House of Smayusta has remained a central institution defending their rights. In recent decades, they have formalised governance: the Nuxalk Stewardship Office upholds ancestral law over land and waters, while the 2019 Declaration of Understanding between hereditary chiefs (Stataltmc) and the Band Council marks renewed cooperation between traditional and imposed governance systems.