Laich-kwil-tach (also spelled Liǧʷiłdaxʷ), is the Anglicization of the Kwak'wala autonomy by the "Southern Kwakiutl" people of

Quadra Island Quadra Island is a large island off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Discovery Islands, in the Strathcona Regional District. Etymology In 1903, the island was named after the Peruvian Spanis ...

and Campbell River in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. There are today two main groups (of perhaps five original separate groups): the

Wei Wai Kai 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 (also Legwildok or Euclataws or Yucultas or "South ...

(Cape Mudge Band) and

Wei Wai Kum Wei or WEI may refer to: States * Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), ''Wèi'' in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger ''Wèi'' of the Warring States * Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warrin ...

just across on the

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

"mainland" in the town of Campbell River. In addition to these two main groups there are the Kwiakah (Kwiakah Band / Kwiakah First Nation) originally from Phillips Arm and

Frederick Arm Frederick Arm is an inlet on the South Coast of British Columbia, extending north from Cordero Channel between Lougborough and Bute Inlets. Originally conferred with the name Ensenada del Estero by Spanish explorers Galiano and Valdes, its cur ...

and the

Discovery Islands The Discovery Islands are a group of islands located at the northern end of the Salish Sea and the eastern end of Johnstone Strait, between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. Most of these islands have very ...

, the Tlaaluis (Laa'luls) between

Bute Bute or BUTE may refer to: People * Marquess of Bute, a title in the Peerage of Great Britain; includes lists of baronets, earls and marquesses of Bute * Lord of Bute, a title in medieval Scotland, including a list of lords * Lucian Bute (born ...

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 (also called Hahamatses or Salmon River Band). So great was the power of the Southern Kwakiutl that the Comox people of the Courtenay- Comox came to speak Kwak'wala instead of K'omox, which today remains spoken by their kin the

Sliammon The Tla'amin First Nation (Comox language: ɬəʔamɛn), formerly Sliammon Indian Band or Sliammon First Nation, is a First Nations self governing nation whose lands and traditional territories are located on the upper Sunshine Coast in southwes ...

and Homalhko on the other side of

Georgia Strait The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington (state), Wash ...

around Powell River. Many of the Wewaykum in Campbell River are of Comox descent, while the Weewaikai of the Cape Mudge Band retain noble lineages and ceremonies going back centuries to their roots in the

Queen Charlotte Strait Queen Charlotte Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It connects Queen Charlotte Sound with Johnstone Strait and Discovery Passage and via them to the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound. It for ...

. The great potlatches of the Cape Mudge chiefs are celebrated in the book ''Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch'' (A. Donaitis, U. Wash Press). The Southern Kwakiutl remain politically separate from their distant kin, the Kwakwaka'wakw, whose name means ''speakers of Kwak'wala'' who remained in the

. The Kwagu'ł or Northern Kwakiutl of

Fort Rupert 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 by road southeast of Port Hardy. Coal & ...

are more closely allied and related to the Southern Kwakiutl than are the Kwakwaka'wakw. The term "Kwakiutl" has different political and historical associations with each of these groups, and has associations with one band in particular over all others, which is one reason why Kwakwaka'wakw evolved as the collective name for the main group of

Kwak'wala-speakers. The Southern Kwakiutl have always called themselves ''Laich-kwil-tach'', at least since moving into the

. Laich-kwil-tach raids on the southern

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

, and even up the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

and out into the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...

, and northwards, are described in the annals of the early non-First Nations explorers and traders. There was one notable incident shortly after the founding of

Fort Langley Fort Langley is a village community in Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada. It has a population of approximately 3,400 people. It is the home of Fort Langley National Historic Site, a former fur trade post of the Hudson's Bay Company ...

in which the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

(HBC) staff repelled a siege by the Euclataws (i.e. the Laich-kwil-tach) with cannonades (much earning the appreciation of the beleaguered local Kwantlens). Despite the presence of

the Laich-kwil-tach continued to raid other Sto:lo communities farther up the

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Notable Liǧʷiłdaxʷ people

Sonny Assu Sonny Assu (born 1975 in Richmond, British Columbia) is a Canadian contemporary artist. Assu's paintings, sculptures, prints, installations, and interventions are all infused with his wry humour which is a tool to open the conversation around his ...

, interdisciplinary artist * Chief Billy Assu

References

* Bancroft-Hunt, Norman. ''People of the Totem: The Indians of the Pacific Northwest''. University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. * Aldona Jonaitis (Editor) ''Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch''. U. Washington Press 1991 (also a publication of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

) {{Kwakwaka'wakw Kwakwaka'wakw no:Kwakiutl pl:Kwakwala

Notable Liǧʷiłdaxʷ people

See also

References