Tsilhqot'in

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Tsilhqot’in (also Chilcotin, Tsilqut'in, Tŝinlhqot’in, Chilkhodin, Tsilkótin, Tsilkotin) are a Northern Athabaskan First Nations people that live in British Columbia, Canada.

The name Tsilhqut’in is derived from the Chilcotin name for themselves: Tŝinlhqot’in. The name also refers to the Chilcotin region in which they are found, which is the inland lea of the Coast Ranges on the west side of the Fraser River, and also is the name of the river draining that region. The Chilcotin District is often viewed as an extension of the Cariboo District, east of that river, although it has a distinct identity from the Cariboo. The Chilcotin district is mostly a wide, high plateau, stretching from the mountains to the Fraser, but also includes several fjord-like lakes which verge from the plateau into the base of the mountains. The largest of these is Chilko Lake. Despite its small population and isolation, the region has produced a small but very readable literature mixing naturalism with native and settler cultures. The area is accessed by Highway 20, which runs from the port town of Bella Coola, at the head of a coastal fjord in the heart of the mountains, across the mountains and plateau to the city of Williams Lake, the principal town of the Cariboo District.