The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw (), also known as the KwakiutlNational Museum of the American Indian Retrieved December 15, 2014.University of British Columbia Totem Park House Names Retrieved December 15, 2014. Ministry of Education, Government of British Columbia Website Retrieved December 15, 2014. Ministry of Education, Government of British Columbia Website Retrieved December 15, 2014. (; "Kwakʼwala-speaking peoples"),"The Kwakʼwala Speaking Tribes", Uʼmista Cultural Centre. Retrieved November 21 2013First Voices: Kwak̓wala Community Portal Retrieved November 21, 2013 are an indigenous group of the Pacific Northwest Coast, in southwestern Canada. Their total population, according to a 2016 census, was 3,665 people. Most live in their traditional territories on northern Vancouver Island, as well as nearby smaller islands (such as the Discovery Islands) and inland on the adjacent British Columbia mainland. Some also live outside their traditional homelands, in urban areas such as Victoria and Vancouver. They are politically organized into 13 band governments.
The Kwakwaka'wakw language, now spoken by only 3.1% of the population, consists of four dialects of what is commonly referred to as Kwakʼwala, known as Kwak̓wala, 'Nak̓wala, G̱uc̓ala and T̓łat̓łasik̓wala.Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw/Kʷakʷəkəw̓akʷ Communities, LanguageGeek.com Retrieved April 6, 2013.
Name
The name Kwakiutl derives from Kwaguʼł—the name of a single community of Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw located at Fort Rupert. The anthropologist Franz Boas had done most of his anthropological work in this area and popularized the term for both this nation and the collective as a whole. The term became misapplied to mean all the nations who spoke Kwakʼwala, as well as three other Indigenous peoples whose language is a part of the Wakashan linguistic group, but whose language is not Kwakʼwala. These peoples, incorrectly known as the Northern Kwakiutl, were the Haisla, Wuikinuxv, and Heiltsuk.
Many people whom others call Kwakiutl consider that name a misnomer. They prefer the name Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, which means "Kwakʼwala-speaking-peoples". One exception is the Laich-kwil-tach at Campbell River: they are known as the Southern Kwakiutl, and their council is the Kwakiutl District Council. History
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw oral history says their ancestors (ʼnaʼmima) came in the forms of animals via the land, sea and from underground. When one of these ancestral creatures arrived at a given spot, it shed its animal appearance and became human. Animals that figure in these origin myths include the Thunderbird and his brother, Kolas, the seagull, orca, grizzly bear, or chief ghost. Some ancestors have human origins and are said to come from distant places.Boas, (1925) vol. 3, pp 229–30.
Historically, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw economy was based primarily on fishing, with the men also engaging in some hunting, and the women gathering wild fruits and berries. Ornate weaving and woodwork were important crafts, and wealth, defined by slaves and material goods, was prominently displayed and traded at potlatch ceremonies. These customs were the subject of extensive study by the anthropologist Franz Boas. In contrast to most non-native societies, wealth and status were not determined by how much you had, but by how much you had to give away. This act of giving away your wealth was one of the main acts in a potlatch.
The first documented contact with Europeans was with Captain George Vancouver in 1792. Disease, which developed as a result of direct contact with European settlers along the West Coast of Canada, drastically reduced the Indigenous Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw population during the late 19th-early 20th century. Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw population dropped by 75% between 1830 and 1880.Duff Wilson, The Indian History of British Columbia, 38–40; Sessional Papers, 1873–1880. The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic alone killed over half of the people.
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw dancers from Vancouver Island performed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.Raibmon, Paige. "Theatres of Contact: The Kwakwak'wakw Meet Colonialism in British Columbia and the Chicago World's Fair". Canadian Historical Review 81: 2(June 2000):157–191.
An account of experiences of two founders of early residential schools for Native Indigenous children was published in 2006 by the University of British Columbia Press. Good Intentions Gone Awry – Emma Crosby and the Methodist Mission On the Northwest Coast by Jan Hare and Jean Barman contains the letters and account of the life of the wife of Thomas Crosby, the first missionary in Lax Kwʼalaams (Port Simpson). This covers the period from 1870 to the turn of the 20th century.
A second book was published in 2005 by the University of Calgary Press, The Letters of Margaret Butcher – Missionary Imperialism on the North Pacific Coast, edited by Mary-Ellen Kelm. It picks up the story from 1916 to 1919 in Kitamaat Village and details of Butcher's experiences among the Haisla people.
A review article entitled Mothers of a Native Hell, about these two books, was published in the British Columbia online news magazine The Tyee in 2007.
Restoring their ties to their land, culture and rights, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw have undertaken much in bringing back their customs, beliefs and language. Potlatches occur more frequently as families reconnect to their birthright, and the community uses language programs, classes and social events to restore the language. Artists in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Mungo Martin, Ellen Neel and Willie Seaweed, have taken efforts to revive Kwakwakaʼwakw art and culture.
Divisions Each Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nation has their own clans, chiefs, history and culture but remains similar to the other Kwak̓wala-speaking nations.
Nation name IPA Translation Community Anglicized, archaic variants or adaptations Kwaguʼł Smoke-Of-The-World Tsax̱is / Fort Rupert Kwagyewlth, Kwakiutl Mamaliliḵa̱la The-People-Of-Malilikala ʼMimkumlis / Village Island ʼNa̱mg̱is Those-Who-Are-One-When-They-Come-Together Xwa̱lkw / Nimpkish River and Yalis / Alert Bay, Nimpkish-Cheslakees Ławitsis Angry-ones Ḵalug̱wis / Turnour Island Tlowitsis A̱ʼwa̱ʼetła̱la Those-Up-The-Inlet Dzawadi / Knight Inlet Da̱ʼnaxdaʼx̱w The-Sandstone-Ones New Vancouver, Harbledown Island Tanakteuk Maʼa̱mtagila Itsika̱n Etsekin, Iʼtsika̱n Dzawa̱da̱ʼenux̱wPeople-Of-The-Eulachon-Country Gwaʼyi / Kingcome Inlet Tsawataineuk Ḵwiḵwa̱sut̓inux̱w People-Of-The-Other-Side G̱waʼyasda̱ms / Gilford Island Kwicksutaineuk Gwawa̱ʼenux̱w Heg̱a̱mʼs / Hopetown (Watson Island) Gwawaenuk ʼNak̕waxdaʼx̱w Baʼaʼs / Blunden Harbour, Seymour Inlet, & Deserters Group Nakoaktok, Nakwoktak Gwaʼsa̱laNorth PeopleThe Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, Boas, Franz, 1897 T̓a̱kus / Smith Inlet, Burnett Bay Gwasilla, Quawshelah G̱usgimukwPeople of Guseʼ Quatsino Koskimo Gwat̕sinux̱w Head-Of-Inlet-People Winter Harbour Oyag̱a̱mʼla / Quatsino T̓łat̕ła̱siḵwa̱la Those-Of-The-Ocean-Side X̱wa̱mdasbeʼ / Hope Island Wiwēqay̓i Ceqʷəl̓utən / Cape Mudge Weiwaikai, Yuculta, Euclataws, Laich-kwil-tach, Lekwiltok, Likʷʼala Wiwēkam ƛam̓atax̌ʷ / Campbell River Weiwaikum
Society
Kinship Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw kinship is based on a bilinear structure, with loose characteristics of a patrilineal culture. It has large extended families and interconnected community life. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw are made up of numerous communities or bands. Within those communities they are organized into extended family units or naʼmima, which means 'of one kind'. Each naʼmima had positions that carried particular responsibilities and privileges. Each community had around four naʼmima, although some had more, some had less.
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw follow their genealogy back to their ancestral roots. A head chief who, through primogeniture, could trace his origins to that naʼmima'''s ancestors delineated the roles throughout the rest of his family. Every clan had several sub-chiefs, who gained their titles and position through their own family's primogeniture. These chiefs organized their people to harvest the communal lands that belonged to their family.
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw society was organized into four classes: the nobility, attained through birthright and connection in lineage to ancestors, the aristocracy who attained status through connection to wealth, resources or spiritual powers displayed or distributed in the potlatch, commoners, and slaves. On the nobility class, "the noble was recognized as the literal conduit between the social and spiritual domains, birthright alone was not enough to secure rank: only individuals displaying the correct moral behavior [sic] throughout their life course could maintain ranking status."Joseph Masco, "It is a Strict Law that Bids Us Dance": Cosmologies, Colonialism, Death, and Ritual Authority in the Kwakwakaʼwakw Potlatch, 1849 to 1922, 48.
Property As in other Northwest Coast peoples, the concept of property was well developed and important to daily life. Territorial property such as hunting or fishing grounds was inherited, and from these properties material wealth was collected and stored.Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 31
Economy A trade and barter subsistence economy formed the early stages of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw economy. Trade was carried out between internal Kwakwakaʼwakw nations, as well as surrounding Indigenous nations such as the Tsimshian, Tlingit, the Nuu-chah-nulth and Coast Salish peoples.
Over time, the potlatch tradition created a demand for stored surpluses, as such a display of wealth had social implications. By the time of European colonialism, it was noted that wool blankets had become a form of common currency. In the potlatch tradition, hosts of the potlatch were expected to provide enough gifts for all the guests invited.Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 33 This practice created a system of loan and interest, using wool blankets as currency.Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 35
As with other Pacific Northwest nations, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw highly valued copper in their economy and used it for ornament and precious goods. Scholars have proposed that prior to trade with Europeans, the people acquired copper from natural copper veins along riverbeds, but this has not been proven. Contact with European settlers, particularly through the Hudson's Bay Company, brought an influx of copper to their territories. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nations also were aware of silver and gold, and crafted intricate bracelets and jewellery from hammered coins traded from European settlers.Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 173 Copper was given a special value amongst the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, most likely for its ceremonial purposes. This copper was beaten into sheets or plates, and then painted with mythological figures. The sheets were used for decorating wooden carvings or kept for the sake of prestige.
Individual pieces of copper were sometimes given names based on their value. The value of any given piece was defined by the number of wool blankets last traded for them. In this system, it was considered prestigious for a buyer to purchase the same piece of copper at a higher price than it was previously sold, in their version of an art market. During potlatch, copper pieces would be brought out, and bids were placed on them by rival chiefs. The highest bidder would have the honour of buying said copper piece. If a host still held a surplus of copper after throwing an expensive potlatch, he was considered a wealthy and important man. Highly ranked members of the communities often have the Kwakʼwala word for "copper" as part of their names.