This article is about the spiritual beliefs, histories and practices in Kwakwaka'wakw mythology. The Kwakwaka'wakw are a group of Indigenous nations, numbering about 5,500, who live in the central coast of British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the mainland. Kwakwaka'wakw translates into "Kwak'wala-speaking tribes." However, the tribes are single autonomous nations and do not view themselves collectively as one group.
Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Port Hardy is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada located on the north-east end of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy has a population of 4,132 as of the last census (2016).
Laich-kwil-tach, is the Anglicization of the Kwak'wala autonomy by the "Southern Kwakiutl" people of Quadra Island and Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada. There are today two main groups : the Wei Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum just across on the Vancouver Island "mainland" in the town of Campbell River. In addition to these two main groups there are the Kwiakah originally from Phillips Arm and Frederick Arm and the Discovery Islands, the Tlaaluis (Laa'luls) between Bute and Loughborough Inlets—after a great war between the Kwakiutl and the Salish peoples they were so reduced in numbers that they joined the Kwiakah—and the Walitsima / Walitsum Band of Salmon River.
Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. 1,200-1,500 people live within the village.
The Winalagalis Treaty Group is a group of four First Nations band governments on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. The group was formed to coordinate and administer negotiations with the government of the Province of British Columbia relating to unresolved treaty issues. It has opted engage in a separate round of negotiation from the rest of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples. The member nations of the Winalagalis Treaty Group are Da'naxda'xw Awaetlatla Nation, Gwa'Sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nation, Quatsino First Nation and Tlatlasikwala Nation.
The Quatsino First Nation is the First Nations band government of the Gwat'sinux subgroup of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples, based in the Quatsino Sound region on the west coast of northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, focused on the community of Coal Harbour in Quatsino Sound. It is a member of the Kwakiutl District Council and, for treaty negotiation purposes, the Winalagalis Treaty Group which includes three other members of the Kwakiutl District Council (the Da'naxda'xw Awaetlatla Nation, Gwa'Sala-Nakwaxda'xw Nation, and the Tlatlasikwala Nation.
The Da'naxda'xw Nation, or Da'naxda'xw/Awaetlatla Nation is a First Nation government in northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, their main community is the community of Alert Bay, British Columbia in the Queen Charlotte Strait region. There are approximately 225 members of the Da'naxda'xw Nation. The Nation is a member of the Kwakiutl District Council and, for treaty negotiation purposes, the Winalagalis Treaty Group which includes three other members of the Kwakiutl District Council (the Quatsino First Nation, the Gwa'Sala-Nakwaxda'xw Nation, and the Tlatlasikwala Nation.
The Tlatlasikwala Nation is a First Nations band government based on northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, focused on the community of Port Hardy, British Columbia in the Queen Charlotte Strait region. It is a member of the Kwakiutl District Council and, for treaty negotiation purposes, the Winalagalis Treaty Group which includes three other members of the Kwakiutl District Council (the Quatsino First Nation, the Da'naxda'xw Awaetlatla Nation, and the Gwa'Sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nation.
The Kwakiutl District Council, also spelled Kwakwewlth District Council and Kwakiuth District Council, pronounced Kwagiulth District Council, is a First Nations Tribal Council based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, based in the community of Campbell River, British Columbia in the northern Strait of Georgia but including member nations spanning northern Vancouver Island as far as Quatsino Sound. The nations represented within the Kwakiutl District Council are all Kwakwaka'wakw.
George Hunt (Tlingit) was a Canadian and a consultant to the American anthropologist Franz Boas; through his contributions, he is considered a linguist and ethnologist in his own right. He was Tlingit-English by birth and learned both those languages. Growing up with his parents at Fort Rupert, British Columbia in Kwakwaka'wakw territory, he learned their language and culture as well. Through marriage and adoption he became an expert on the traditions of the Kwakwaka'wakw of coastal British Columbia.
Henry Hunt was a First Nations woodcarver and artist from the Kwakwaka'wakw people of coastal British Columbia. He carved a number of totem poles which are on public display in Canada and internationally.
Calvin Hunt is a Canadian First Nations artist from Fort Rupert, British Columbia. The Kwakiutl are part of the larger nation Kwakwaka'wakw.
Fort Rupert is the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort on the east coast near the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The unincorporated community on Beaver Harbour is about 11 kilometres (7 mi) by road southeast of Port Hardy.
The 'Nak'waxda'xw, also known as the Nakoaktok, are an Indigenous nation, a part of the Kwakwaka'wakw, in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, on northern Vancouver Island.
The We Wai Kai Nation, also known as the Wewaikai First Nation, the Cape Mudge First Nation and the Cape Mudge Indian Band, is the band government of the We Wai Kai subgroup of the Laich-kwil-tach group of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples, based on Quadra Island offshore from Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada, which is on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the northern end of the Strait of Georgia. The Laich-kwil-tach include the Wei Wai Kum, who are organized as the Campbell River First Nation, and the Kwiakah Nation, whose traditional territory is in the Discovery Islands to the northeast of that city and on the adjoining mainland coast. All three are part of the Kwakiutl District Council, a tribal council which includes other Kwakwaka'wakw bands farther northwest in the Queen Charlotte Strait region and on northern Vancouver Island.
The Kwiakah First Nation, also known as the Kwiakah Band or Kwiakah Nation, is the band government of the Kwiakah people, a subgroup of the Laich-kwil-tach group of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples. Their mailing address is in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada, where most their 19 band members live, although their traditional territory is in the Discovery Islands to the north of that city and their two Indian Reserves are located on the mainland coast adjacent to that archipelago. The band is making an effort to "go back to the land" and re-occupy their traditional sites.
The K'ómoks First Nation, also known as the Comox Indian Band, is the band government of the Island Comox or K'ómoks people of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Closely allied to the Cape Mudge and Campbell River First Nations, historically they were a Coast Salish people since integrated into Kwakwaka'wakw society. Originally part of the Laich-kwil-tach Council of Chiefs, which is a treaty society, they are now negotiating independently in the BC Treaty Process. They remain a member government of the Kwakiutl District Council.
Corrine Hunt, also known as Nugwam Gelatleg'lees, is a Kwakwaka'wakw/Tlingit artist, carver, jeweller and designer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The Ma’amtagila First Nation', formerly known as Mahteelthpe or Matilpi, are an Indigenous nation and part of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples. Their territory is located in the Queen Charlotte Strait-Johnstone Strait area in the Discovery Islands between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland in Canada.
