The Sarita River basin is the traditional homeland of the Huu-ay-aht Peoples.

[3] The river was important to the Huu-ay-aht for thousands of years as a source of food and as a means of transportation between villages throughout the territory.

The Huu-ay-aht wintering village, Nuumakimyiis, was located at the mouth of the river.

[1] In 2018, the Huu-ay-aht First Nations announced plans to begin a salmon renewal program to bring back the important food staple to the Sarita River.

The river flows westerly into Sarita Lake and empties the lake over Sarita Falls before meandering through a lowland valley towards the ocean at Numukamis Bay on the eastern edge of the Barkley Sound.