- Nicola people
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- 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.
The Nicola people are a historic First Nations political and cultural alliance in the Nicola Country region of the Southern Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. They are mostly located in the Nicola River valley around the area of Merritt and are an alliance of Scw'exmx, the local branch of the Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) people, and the Spaxomin, the local branch of the Syilx or Okanagan people.
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 Metis 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.
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Government
Main article: Nicola Tribal AssociationThe Nicola have a separate tribal council from the rest of the Nlaka'pamux, the Nicola Tribal Association, which also includes the Siska Band of the Fraser Canyon. The Douglas Lake Band, which is the home of the Spaxomin group, are also members of the Okanagan Nation Alliance as well as the Nicola Tribal Association.
The Nicola Athapaskans
Main article: 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.
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