Adopted 2 June 1950 on 93N as labelled on Trutch's 1871 map of BC, et seq. Flows NE into Parsnip River at 55º32' - 123º23'. Location description and coordinates of mouth changed 5 June 1974 on 93O/5, due to flooding of Williston Lake.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

Labelled "Tribe River" by Wyld, 1858; Stanford 1859; Arrowsmith, 1859, 1860. Not labelled on Royal Engineers' 1862 map. Labelled "Branch of Peace, Tribe river ? " on Trutch's 1870 map. Labelled "Nation River" on Trutch's 1871 map and on Mohun's 1884 map of British Columbia. The channel above Indata Lake is labelled "Kwanika River" on Jorgensen's 1885 map and on Poudrier's 1981 map.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

Named Nation River in 1806 by Simon Fraser: "Monday, June 2 [1806]. Fine day. Exceedingly bad going until we passed the Rivière au Nation, which is a fine navigable River on the right, and so called because the upper part of it is inhabited by some of the Big Men, though of a different family from those at Trout [McLeod] Lake, after which the current slackened a little." (The letters and journals of Simon Fraser, 1806-1808, edited by W. Kaye Lamb, Macmillan, Toronto, 1960, p.195). "The Indians in this area are the Sikanni, who were also called The Big Men. Fraser found a different band of Sikanni on Nation river, but they were of the same "nation" or tribe as the band at McLeod Lake." (Wilson Duff, Provincial Archives).

Source: Provincial Archives of BC "Place Names File" compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions

The traditional name is Too Ti Koh. ("Central Carrier Country" © Carrier Linguistic Committee, Fort St. James, 1974). [Too Ti Koh flows east from Too Ti (Chuchi Lake).]

Source: included with note