Nemiah: The Unconquered Country

by The People of the Nemiah Valley, Rick Blacklaws

The beautiful and remote Nemiah Valley in the Chilcotin, home to the Nemiah Valley Indian Band, lies just 200 miles northwest of Vancouver. One hundred and thirty years ago the Nemiahs' ancestors successfully resisted incursions by Europeans in a series of bloody skirmishes that came to be known as the Chilcotin War. It was one of the few instances of open warfare between Natives and Europeans in what later became Canada, and one of only a handful of such encounters in North America clearly won by the Indians. The Nemiah country remained undisturbed until a road was built into the valley in the late 1960s.

Now the Nemiah Valley is once again being eyed hungrily by outsiders -- particularly logging companies that see the valley's uncut pine stands as a temporary solution to their log supply crisis. And once again, the Nemiahs are determined to control their own destiny.

Nemiah: The Unconquered Country is their story. It is the story of the Chilcotin War, and the story of their determination to stand up to logging companies and governments that have their own plans for the Nemiah Valley. It is a rich and moving portrayal of the Nemiah people, through photographs, their own traditional stories, and a text by Terry Glavin, author of A Death Feast in Dimlahamid.

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

Reviews

[Hilda William]

aptly describes the practices of Tsilhqot'in people and spiritual practices