TheChilcotin (/tʃɪlˈkoʊtɪn/)^[2] region ofBritish Columbia is usually known simply as "the Chilcotin", and also in speech commonly as "the Chilcotin Country" or simplyChilcotin. It is a plateau and mountain region inBritish Columbia on the inland lee of theCoast Mountains on the west side of theFraser River. Chilcotin is also the name of the river draining that region. In thelanguage of the Tsilhqot'in people, their name and the name of the river means "those of the red ochre river" (its tributary theChilko River means "red ochre river"). The proper name of the Chilcotin Country, orTsilhqotʼin territory, in their language isTŝilhqotʼin Nen.^[3]

The Chilcotin district is often viewed as an extension of theCariboo region, east of that river, although it has a distinct identity from the Cariboo District. It is, nonetheless, part of theCariboo Regional District which is a municipal-level body governing some aspects of infrastructure and land-used planning. The vast majority of the population areFirst Nations people, members of theTsilhqot'in andDakelh peoples, while others are settlers and ranchers.

The Chilcotin district is mostly a wide, high plateau, stretching from the mountains to theFraser River, but also includes several fjord-like lakes which verge from the plateau into the base of the mountains. The largest of the lakes in the region isChilko Lake, which feeds theChilko River, the main tributary of theChilcotin River. Other major lakes are Tatlayoko Lake (/ˈtætləkoʊ/TAT-lə-koh) and Taseko Lake (/təˈsiːkoʊ/tə-SEE-koh); the area of the lakes, in the southern part of the district, is now theTsʼilʔos Provincial Park, also known as the Xeni Gwetʼin Wilderness after theXeni Gwetʼin, the local subdivision of the Tsilhqotʼin people) and are also known as the Stony Chilcotin, who were also instrumental in the campaign for that area's preservation.

The forested plateau area just northeast of the park, between the Chilko River andTaseko Rivers, is known as the Brittany Triangle and is currently under hot dispute between preservationists and logging interests. East of the Tsʼilʔos Provincial Park isBig Creek Provincial Park and theChurn Creek Protected Area, while to the southeast is theSpruce Lake Protected Area aka "the South Chilcotin", which despite its nickname is mostly in theBridge River Country, part of theLillooet Country and not part of the Chilcotin Country, which begins at the protected area's northern and northwestern borders.

Despite its small population and isolation, the region has produced a small but very readable literature mixing naturalism with native and settler cultures and memoirs. The most well-known Chilcotin authors areLeland Stowe andPaul St. Pierre; the latter was formerlyMember of Parliament forCoast Chilcotin and a notedVancouver journalist. St. Pierre's writing encapsulated Chilcotin folklore and daily life and are written in a crisp, ironic and often humorous style; the best-known isSmith and Other Events andCariboo Cowboy, while Stowe's writings focus on the wildlife of the area on the western rim of the district, adjacent toTweedsmuir South Provincial Park. HisCrusoe of Lonesome Lake is about early settlerRalph Edwards and his work protecting thetrumpeter swans which migrate through the region; Edwards' own volumeRalph Edwards of Lonesome Lake parallels Stowe's account, and the bookRuffles On My Longjohns by his sister-in-law Isabel Edwards documents her tribulations as the wilderness wife of a wildlife advocate.

Another notable book from more recent times areChiwid by Sage Birchwater of Tatlayoko Lake, documenting eyewitness reminiscences of aFirst Nations eccentric-cum-spirit person, Lilly Skinner, andNemaia: the Unconquered Country byTerry Glavin, which recounts the story of theChilcotin War of 1864 and the flavour of the Nemaia Valley today (the Nemaia is the main residence of the Xeni Gwetin, who were the main instigators of the war).

Edwards's cabin, and the trumpeter habitat, are world heritage sites although his cabin was burned out in large forest fires in the summer of 2004.

Another Chilcotin author is Ted "Chilco" Choate, a hunting guide at Gaspard Lake in the southeastern part of the district who writes about animals, hunters and the wilderness lifestyle. Choate is one of the main advocates for combining the Tweedsmuir, Tsʼilʔos, Spruce Lake/South Chilcotin, Big Creek and Churn Creek wilderness areas into one large national park spanning theCoast Mountains and plateau between theFraser and the spine of theCoast Mountains.

The Chilcotin is also known for its large population ofmustang horses, which have contributed to the bloodlines of domesticated horses in the regions, including a variety known as thecayuse pony or, in some local spellings, cayoosh (the old name for the town ofLillooet), which lies just outside the Chilcotin to the southeast, near where the plateau meets theFraser River.

Still "controlled" today due to their competition for forage with cattle herds, they were once so overpopulated — even before put into competition with the feed demands of large-scale ranching — that a high bounty was set on them and they were hunted out, and nearly exterminated. They are believed to be stock brought in during gold rush times, as according to contemporary records the Chilcotins did not have horses until then. Author and guide-outfitter Chilco Choate, however, points out that forage patterns and the adaptation of the breed to the area, it is more likely that they entered the area, already wild prior to domestication by local natives and being perhaps offshoots of the large horseherds acquired by theOkanagan andNez Perce and other plateau peoples several decades before. Despite their controlled status, their population survives today, though imperilled by expansion of ranching and logging.

The area is accessed byHighway 20, which runs from the port town ofBella Coola, at the head ofSouth Bentinck Arm, a coastalfjord piercing into the heart of theCoast Mountains, across the mountains and plateau to the city ofWilliams Lake, the principal town of the southCariboo. Near Highway 20 in the southern end ofTweedsmuir Park isHunlen Falls, at 1226 feet (373.7 m) one of Canada's highest, plunging into a deep canyon that makes measurement difficult.

The largest towns in the Chilcotin areAlexis Creek,Anahim Lake andHanceville, which are all First Nations communities. Other communities in the Chilcotin areTowdystan,Nimpo Lake,Nemaiah Valley,Tatla Lake, and Tatlayoko Lake, though settlers (usually small ranchers and owners and staff of small resorts) are scattered across the backcountry. There is aCanadian Forces artillery and tactics range on the eastern edge of the plateau, in the vicinity of oldFort Chilcotin (this land was originally set aside for military purposes following the Chilcotin War).

Also of major importance in the Chilcotin is theGang Ranch, once the world's largest and still among the major beef suppliers inBritish Columbia. "The Gang" dates from the 1860s and covers nearly all terrain south of theChilcotin River and east of Taseko Lake and theFraser River, and skirting theBridge River Country to its south. The vast terrain of the Gang Ranch is more wilderness than pasture, with natural plateau and alpine meadowland and vast forests and swamps. The Gang verges up into the foothill area of the northeastern flank of theCoast Mountains as they approach theFraser River from the west, meeting theFraser between the Gang Ranch's main house and the town ofLillooet.

Similar ranching conditions are found from theBurns Lake andSmithers area in northwestern InteriorBC all the way south to the US border, including the famousDouglas Lake Ranch south ofKamloops, but the Gang is by far the largest, and the most wild in character.

• "Chilcotin country" usages in Google Books

• Chilcotin Country

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata