Nuxalk Strong: Historic Nuxalk Exhibition Opens at UBC’s Museum of Anthropology – Coastal First Nations
The Nuxalk Strong exhibit features modern works by contemporary artists alongside pieces dating back more than 100 years.
It was standing room only on the evening of February 20, 2025, when the Nuxalk Nation welcomed the world into its past and present day with the opening of Nuxalk Strong: Dancing Down the Eyelashes of the Sun. Co-curated by Snxakila Clyde Tallio (Director of Culture and Language, Nuxalk Nation) and Jennifer Kramer (MOA Curator, Pacific Northwest), Nuxalk Strong is the world’s first-ever dedicated exhibition of the Nuxalk, exploring Nuxalk ways of knowing through more than 60 Nuxalk historic treasures drawn from the MOA collections, other museums, and private and family collections.
The evening opened in spectacular fashion with speeches, songs, and dances performed by the youth dance group from Acwsalcta School, the Nation’s own K-12 independent school in Nuxalk Territory (Bella Coola Valley). Snxakila Clyde Tallio, an Alkw (language speaker, knowledge keeper, and potlatch speaker), hosted the event, thanking the Musqueam Nation for holding the exhibit on their lands, and welcomed attendees from across the region. Nuxalk Elders, youth, and elected and hereditary leadership all took the floor to express their joy in being reunited with the treasures of their ancestors and once again reiterating their desire to one day bring them home.
