Nemiah Valley Lodge Featured in Travel & Leisure Magazine
In The Press
Chloe Berge published a feature article in Travel & Leisure Magazine September 2022 detailing Her journey to Nemiah in Summer 2022.
“Looking out across its vast expanse, I’m humbled by the Xeni Gwet’in’s decision to share their traditions and culture with non-Indigenous visitors. It’s a gracious step toward understanding and reconciliation. For the First Nation, the right to practice traditional ways of life is as healing for themselves as it is for the land that they cherish and protect. William says, “Here, we’re starting over.””
This Indigenous-owned Lodge in British Columbia Encourages Guests to Connect With Nature in a Deeper Way
In the heart of the Chilcotin region, Nemiah Valley Lodge marks the only area in Canada acknowledged by the Supreme Court as having Indigenous title.
By Chloe Berge - Published on September 25, 2022
The horses gallop across a golden meadow hemmed by aspen and pine. Our group of travelers has pulled off to the side of the road, transfixed by the small herd. British Columbia’s remote Nemiah Valley is home to western Canada’s only wild horse preserve, and cast against the saw-toothed Coast Mountains, it’s a scene out of an Old Hollywood western.
The valley is nestled in the province’s interior Chilcotin region, an area marked not only by wild horses, but wild rivers and forests, too. Located a three-hour drive down a rumpled dirt road from Williams Lake, it’s a part of B.C. few see, and it comes as no surprise that the region has been dubbed British Columbia’s “Wild West." Tourism here has long been dominated by pioneer history and settler ranch culture, but a new wave of Indigenous-led tourism is changing the narrative. Long before settlers established working ranches, the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation tamed wild horses and rode them on packing trips through the mountains, following food sources throughout the seasons.
