The Bella Coola Valley Museum reflects the eclectic history of the valley from the early explorers to the coming of the pioneers up to 1955. Formerly a schoolhouse and a surveyor’s cabin, the museum is housed in a heritage log building that dates back to 1892. On display are items brought by Norwegians to the New World, and artifacts and photographs that tell tales of the early trading days when the Hudson’s Bay Company thrived.
In 2006, the Bella Coola Museum Society conducted a study to enable the society to effectively enage with tourists and residents, allowing visitors to relive the vibrant history of the Bella Coola Valley. For generations, the Nuxalk have occupied the Bella Coola Valley amidst the magnificent mountains and lush forests of the central coast of British Columbia.
The Nuxalk’s culture, rich in material and ceremonial wealth, was first encountered by Europeans in 1793, when explorer Alexander Mackenzie, his voyageurs, and native guides completed the first recorded crossing of North America. Seven weeks prior to Mackenzie’s visit, Captain George Vancouver’s surveyors had charted North Bentinck Arm. Traveling the historic Nuxalk-Carrier Grease Trail, Mackenzie’s party preceded the American government-financed Lewis and Clark expedition by twelve years.
The museum completed a detailed consultation process on how to effectively portray these historic events that included major facility layout changes that has made the Bella Coola Valley Museum’s exhibits more appealing to visitors and more effective in generating much needed revenue to support the Society.
