LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENT 21

THE wstamx

Before the smallpox epidemic, about 1865, there were towns
on the fiords and villages of Dean Channel between Kimsquit
and Bella Bella. The inhabitants were called wstémx by the
Bella Coola, and cstaitx by the Bella Bella. Their settlements
were at Elcho Harbour, Green River, Cascade Inlet, and
at several unidentified places. Their language is said to
- have differed slightly from that of the Bella Bella, but the
people themselves married freely with both Kimsquit and
Bella Bella, thus forming a connecting link between these tribes.

A list of ustémx towns was obtained from one old man, who
claimed to be a descendant of the people. It was impossible
to verify this information, and since he himself was not an
ideal informant, the following can be regarded only as
approximately correct.

(1) Atko: at Elcho Harbour.

(2) Kilde-t: on a fiord one mile above the last-named.

(3) 4k or Yugwa-t: on a river three miles above the
preceding.

(4) Nuwaisa-x: on a river two miles above the preceding.

(5) Nusgat?: on a fiord three miles above the preceding.

(6) ’Omiiom: on a fiord three miles above the preceding.

(7) Suxwdk: on a river two miles above the last-named
and thirty miles below Kimsquit.

According to the old man from whom the above list was
obtained, Nuxw/st, at Kimsquit, recorded earlier as village
no. 45, was also populated by wstémx people. There was so
much intermarriage between the two groups that it is now
impossible to ascertain whether the inhabitants not only of
Nuxwilst, but of Suxwilk as well, were predominantly Kimsquit
or wtamx.

The open plateau in which the Bella Coola River rises has
always made travel possible for long distances, so that not only