This article is for the modern group of First Nations Interior Salishan people known as the Nicola. For the extinct Athapaskan people commonly known by the same name, see Nicola Athapaskans

Nicola Athapaskans

The Nicola Athapaskans, also known as the Nicola people or Stuwix, were an Athabascan people who arrived in the in the migrated into the Nicola Country of what is now the Southern Interior of British Columbia from the north a few centuries ago but were slowly reduced in number by constant raiding...

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The Nicola people are a historic First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 political and cultural alliance in the Nicola Country

Nicola Country

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 Columbia, Canada...

 region of the Southern Interior

British Columbia Interior

The British Columbia Interior or BC Interior or Interior of British Columbia, usually referred to only as the Interior, is one of the three main regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the other two being the Lower Mainland, which comprises the overlapping areas of Greater Vancouver...

 of the Canadian province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. They are mostly located in the Nicola River

Nicola River

The Nicola River, originally French Rivière de Nicholas or Rivière de Nicolas, adapted to Nicolas River, Nicola's River in English, , is one of the major tributaries of the Thompson River in the Canadian province of British Columbia, entering the latter at the town of Spences Bridge...

 valley around the area of Merritt

Merritt, British Columbia

Merritt is a city in the Nicola Valley of the south-central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Situated at the confluence of the Nicola and Coldwater rivers, it is the first major community encountered after travelling along Phase One of the Coquihalla Highway and acts as the gateway to all...

 and are an alliance of Scw'exmx, the local branch of the Nlaka'pamux

Nlaka'pamux

The Nlaka'pamux , commonly called "the Thompson", and also Thompson River Salish, Thompson Salish, Thompson River Indians or Thompson River people) are an indigenous First Nations/Native American people of the Interior Salish language group in southern British Columbia...

 (Thompson) people, and the Spaxomin, the local branch of the Syilx or Okanagan people

Okanagan people

The Okanagan people, also spelled Okanogan, are a First Nations and Native American people whose traditional territory spans the U.S.-Canada boundary in Washington state and British Columbia...

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The name Nicola is not a derivation of Nlaka'pamux or its variants, but is taken from the name of the chief who forged the alliance, which then included the native communities surrounding Fort Kamloops, who had been dubbed "Nicholas" by the Métis voyageurs of the fur companies (pron. French way as Nico-LA, but in general BC usage as NICK-ola, also known in English as Nicholas or Old Nicholas). A "nativized" adaptation of Nicola in common use today is N'kwala.

Government

The Nicola have a separate tribal council from the rest of the Nlaka'pamux, the Nicola Tribal Association

Nicola Tribal Association

The Nicola Tribal Association is the official name of what is also known as the Nicola Tribal Council and the Nicola Valley Tribal Council, is a First Nations Tribal Council composed of bands in the Nicola Valley, Thompson Canyon and Fraser Canyon areas of the Canadian province of British Columbia...

, which also includes the Siska Band

Siska First Nation

The Siska First Nation is a Nlaka'pamux First Nations government located in the Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Nicola Tribal Association, which are two of three tribal councils of the Nlaka'pamux people...

 of the Fraser Canyon

Fraser Canyon

The Fraser Canyon is an 84 km landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley...

. The Douglas Lake Band, which is the home of the Spaxomin group, are also members of the Okanagan Nation Alliance

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 Reservation in Washington state.-Member...

as well as the Nicola Tribal Association.

The Nicola Athapaskans

"Nicola" is used by linguists and ethnographers to refer to an Athapaskan people and their language who formerly lived in the area, but were extinct by the later 19th Century.