sentences:  At one time the Stuwix had also lived in the upper Similkameen and are credited by historian Mark S. Wade as being the first known inhabitants of that area until they were driven out by the group today constituted as the Upper Similkameen Indian Band and retreating to the area of Douglas, Stump and Nicola Lakes, where they were sheltered by Chief Nicola and the Scw'exmx and Spaxomin who lived under his rule.Despite friendly relations with their immediate neighbours, they were subject to repeated raids by hostile tribes, notably the Secwepemc (Shuswap) and by the later 19th century only a handful survived.Very little is known of them as by the mid-19th century they were nearly extinct due to constant raiding by Thompson and Shuswap from outside the valley, and their surviving members were largely absorbed by the surrounding Scw'exmx, a branch of the Thompson people by the time of European contact, and also partly by the Spaxomin, a branch of the Okanagan people also in the valley who are also known as the Spahomin Band.