Tribes of Canada
Hydah Indians of Canada
Hudson Bay Territory
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Kutchin, Kutenai and Kwakiutl and Indians
Kutchin. The Kutchin occupied
the entire central portion of Yukon territory and extended to the
lower course of the Mackenzie, which they occupied on both sides
from New Fort Good Hope to the delta. (See Nakotcho-kutchin,
Takkuth-kutchin, Tatlit-kutchin, and Alaska.)
Kutenai. The Kutenai were located on Kootenay
River and Lake and extended into the United States, occupying the
northern parts of Montana and Idaho. In later prehistoric times they
extended some distance into the Plains. (See
Kwakiutl. Own name, signifying according to
themselves, "smoke of the world," but probably meaning "beach at the
north side of the river."
Connections. With the Bellabella (q. v.), the Kwakiutl
constituted one grand division of the Wakashan linguistic family,
the Nootka forming the other.
Location. On both shores of Queen Charlotte Sound, and the
northern end of Vancouver Island.
The bands or septs, with the relations which they
bear to one another, are indicated in the following list, based upon
information obtained by Boas (1897):
||Klaskino, on Klaskino Inlet, Vancouver Island.
Koprino, at the entrance of Quatsino Sound.
Quatsino, at the entrance of Quatsino Sound, Vancouver
||Nakomgilisala, originally at Cape Scott, Vancouver
Tlatlasikoala, formerly at the northeast end of Vancouver
||Awaitlala, on Knight Inlet.
Goasila, on Smith Inlet.
Guauaenok, on Drury Inlet.
Hahuamis, on Wakeman Sound.
Koeksotenok, on Gilford Island.
Kwakiutl, including Guetela, Komkutis, Komoyue, Matilpe, and
Walas Kwakiutl most of whom lived at
||Lekwiltok, between Knight and Bute Inlets.
Mamalelekala, on Village Island.
Nakoaktok, on Seymour Inlet.
Nimkish, on and near Nimkish River.
Tenaktak, on Knight Inlet.
Tlauitsis, on Cracroft Island.
Tsawatenok, on Kingcombe Inlet.
An extinct band was called Hoyalas.
|Awaitlala and Tenaktak: Kwatsi, at Point
Macdonald, Knight Inlet. (See Tsawatenok.)
Goasila: Waitlas, at the mouth of Samo River, Smith Inlet.
Guauaenok: Hohopa, on the west coast of Baker Island;
Kunstamish, on the east side of Clayton Bay, Wells
||Passage. (see Tsawatenok.) Hahuamis. (See
|Koeksotenok: Kwakwakas, on the
west coast of Gilford Island.
Koeksotenok and Mamalelekala: Memkumlis, on Village Islands,
at the mouth of Knight Inlet.
Lekwiltok: Husam, at the mouth of Salmon River; Tatapowis,
on Hoskyn Inlet; Tsaiiyeuk, at the entrance of Bute
||Inlet; Tsakwalooin, near Cape Mudge.
|Mamalelekala. (See Koeksotenok).
Matilpe: Etsekin, on Havannah Channel.
Nakoaktok: Awuts, on the lagoon above Shelter Bay; Kikwistok,
on the lower part of Seymour Inlet; Mapakum, on Deserter's
Island of the Walker Group.
Quatsino: Owiyekumi, on Forward Inlet, Quatsino Sound;
Tenate, on the north shore of Forward Inlet.
||Tenaktak: (See Awaitlala.)
|Tlauitsis: Kalakowis, on the
west end of Turnour Island.
Tsawatenok: Hata, at the head of Bond Sound; Kwae, at the
head of Kingcombe Inlet.
Tsawatenok, Hahuamis, and Guauaenok together: Kwaustums, on
History. If the voyage of Fuentes in 1640 is
authentic, he was probably the first European to encounter any of
the Kwakiutl Indians. Bodega and Maurelle passed along their coast
in 1775, and from this time on they were visited by English and
American explorers and traders at frequent intervals. The
establishment of a Hudson's Bay post at Victoria in 1843 marked an
epoch in their dealings with the Whites which since then have been
more and more intimate. Mission work among the Bellabella was very
successful but the southern branches of the family held on to their
ancient customs with more tenacity.
Population. Mooney (1928) estimated that in 1780 there were
4,500 southern Kwakiutl Indians. In 1906 there were 1,257. The
Report of the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs for 1909 gives
Connection in which they have become noted. These tribes are
noteworthy for the very complete studies of their social
organization and potlatch customs made by Boas (1897), assisted by
George Hunt, and the important part these studies have played in the
development of general theories of exogamy and totemism.
The Indian Tribes of North of America, by
John Swanton, 1953