Dakelh First Nations government in the Canadian province of British Columbia
Location of Ulkatcho First Nation Band office
The Ulkatcho First Nation is a Dakelh First Nations government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Carrier Chilcotin Tribal Council, and its offices are located in Anahim Lake, British Columbia at the western edge of the Chilcotin District. The Ulkatcho government is responsible for 22 Indian reserves with a population of 729 members living on-reserve, and another 200 living off reserve. Its people are of the Ulkatchot’en ethnic group, a subgroup of the Carrier (Dakelh). Ulkatcho people have intermarried heavily with both Nuxalk and Chilcotin people and share territory in the Coast Range with the Nuxalk. Many distinctively Ulkatcho family names, such as Cahoose, Capoose, Squinas, and Stilas come from Nuxalk.
Name
The name Ulkatcho is an anglicisation of Ulhk'acho, the name of one village, now disused, on Gatcho Lake. Ulhk'acho means "big bounteous place", a place with bountiful fish, game, and other resources. It is based on the root k'a "fat".
Birchwater, Sage. 1991. 'Ulkatcho'ten: the People of Ulkatcho. Anahim Lake, B.C.: Ulkatcho Indian Band.
Goldman, Irving. 1940. “The Alkatcho Carrier of British Columbia,” in Linton, Ralph (ed.) Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes. New York: Appleton-Century pp. 333–389
Goldman, Irving. 1943. “The Alkatcho Carrier: Historical Background of Crest Prerogatives,” American Anthropologist 41.396-421.
