The Nuu-chah-nulth ( ; ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the

Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and prac ...

in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related tribes whose traditional home is on the west coast of

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 ...

. In precontact and early post-contact times, the number of tribes was much greater, but the smallpox epidemics and other consequences of contact with Europeans resulted in the disappearance of some groups and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. The Nuu-chah-nulth are related to the Kwakwaka'wakw, the

Haisla Haisla may refer to: * Haisla people, an indigenous people living in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada. * Haisla language, their northern Wakashan language. * Haisla Nation The Haisla Nation is the Indian Act-mandated band government which repr ...

, and the

Ditidaht First Nation The Ditidaht ee-tee-dotFirst Nation is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The government has 17 reserve lands: Ahuk, Tsuquanah, Wyah, Clo-oose, Cheewat, Sarque, ...

. The

Nuu-chah-nulth language Nuu-chah-nulth (), Nootka (), is a Wakashan language in the Pacific Northwest of North America on the west coast of Vancouver Island, from Barkley Sound to Quatsino Sound in British Columbia by the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. Nuu-chah-nulth is ...

belongs to the Wakashan family. The governing body is the

Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council is a First Nations Tribal Council in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The organization is based in Port Alberni, British Columbia. History The differe ...

History

Contact with Europeans

When

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

first encountered the villagers at

Yuquot Yuquot (), also known as Friendly Cove, is a small settlement of around six people—the Williams family of the Mowachaht band—plus two full-time lighthouse keepers, located on Nootka Island in Nootka Sound, just west of Vancouver Island, Bri ...

in 1778, they directed him to "come around" (Nuu-chah-nulth ''nuutkaa'' is "to circle around")Campbell, Lyle (1997). ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 396 n. 34 with his ship to the harbour. Cook interpreted this as the First Nation's name for the inlet, now called Nootka Sound. The term was also applied to the indigenous inhabitants of the area. The Nuu-chah-nulth were among the first Pacific peoples north of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to encounter Europeans, who sailed into their area for trade, particularly the Maritime fur trade. Tensions flared up between Spain and Great Britain over control of

Nootka Sound Nootka Sound () is a sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Pacific Northwest, historically known as King George's Sound. It separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island, part of the Canadian province of ...

, which led to a bitter international dispute around 1790 known as the

Nootka Crisis The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between Spain and Great Britain triggered by a series of events revolving around sovereignty claims and rights of navigation and trade. It ...

. It was settled under the

Nootka Convention The Nootka Sound Conventions were a series of three agreements between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Great Britain, signed in the 1790s, which averted a war between the two countries over overlapping claims to portions of the Pacific No ...

, in which Spain agreed to abandon its exclusive claims to the North Pacific coast. Negotiations to settle the dispute were handled under the aegis and hospitality of

Maquinna Maquinna (also transliterated Muquinna, Macuina, Maquilla from m̓ukʷina in Nuu-chah-nulth) was the chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Nootka Sound, during the heyday of the maritime fur trade in the 1780s and 1790s on the Pacific Northwest ...

, a powerful chief of the

Mowachaht The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations are a First Nations government on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations are a member nation of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Counc ...

Nuu-chah-nulth. A few years later, Maquinna and his warriors captured the American trading ship ''Boston'' in March 1803. He and his men killed the captain and all the crew but two, whom they kept as slaves. After gaining release,

John R. Jewitt John Rodgers Jewitt (21 May 1783 – 7 January 1821) was an English armourer who entered the historical record with his memoirs about the 28 months he spent as an enslaved captive of Maquinna of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people on what is now ...

wrote a classic

captivity narrative Captivity narratives are typically personal accounts of people who have been captured by an enemy, generally a enemy with a foreign culture. The best-known captivity narratives in North America are those concerning Europeans and Americans taken ...

about his nearly 3 years with the Nuu-chah-nulth and his reluctant assimilation to their society. This 1815 book is titled ''Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt;, Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston, during a Captivity of Nearly Three Years among the Savages of Nootka Sound: With an Account of the Manners, Mode of Living, and Religious Opinions of the Natives.'' In the end, Jewitt escaped with the help of

Wickaninnish Wickaninnish (; meaning "Nobody sits or stands before him in the canoe") was a chief of the Tla-o-qui-aht people of Clayoquot Sound, on what is now Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, in the 1780s and 1790s, during the opening period of Eu ...

, a chief from an opposing group. In 1811 the trading ship '' Tonquin'' was blown up in

Clayoquot Sound Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North. ...

. Tla-o-qui-aht warriors had attacked the ship in revenge for an insult by the ship's captain. The captain and almost all the crew were killed and the ship abandoned. The next day warriors reboarded the empty ship to salvage it. However, a hiding crew member set fire to the ship's magazine and the resulting explosion killed many First Nation peoples. Only one crew member, a pilot / interpreter hired from the nearby

Quinault nation The Quinault ( or , kʷínayɬ) are a group of Native American peoples from western Washington in the United States. They are a Southwestern Coast Salish people and are enrolled in the federally recognized Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reserva ...

, escaped to tell the tale. From earliest contact with European and American explorers up until 1830, more than 90% of the Nuu-chah-nulth died as a result of

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

s, particularly

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. Europeans and Americans were immune to these

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

diseases but the

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

had no immunity to them (see

Native American disease and epidemics The history of Native American disease and epidemics is fundamentally composed of two elements: indigenous diseases and those brought by settlers to the Americas from the Old World (Africa, Asia, and Europe). Although a variety of infecti ...

). The high rate of deaths added to the social disruption and cultural turmoil resulting from contact with Westerners. In the early 20th century, the population was estimated at 3,500.

20th century

In 1979, the tribes of western

chose the term ''Nuu-chah-nulth'' (''nuučaan̓uł'', meaning "all along the mountains and sea"), as a collective term of identification. This was the culmination of the 1958 alliance forged among these tribes in order to present a unified political voice to the levels of government and European-Canadian society. In 1985, the Government of British Columbia signed an agreement to delegate authority for the delivery of Child Welfare Services to the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, making the Nuu-Chah-Nulth the first delegated aboriginal agency in British Columbia. The

Makah The Makah (; Makah: ') are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast living in Washington, in the northwestern part of the continental United States. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah I ...

of northwest

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, located on the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large peninsula in Western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...

in their own reservation, are also Nuu-chah-nulth.

Research

In the 1980s, scientists from outside the community recruited Nuu-chah-nulth people as

research participants A research participant, also called a human subject or an experiment, trial, or study participant or subject, is a person who voluntarily participates in human subject research after giving informed consent to be the subject of the research. A rese ...

in genetic studies. Those studies used participant blood and other material for purposes which the community did not approve. In 2013, the community had those materials destroyed.

Bands

The Nuu-chah-nulth are represented by 14 band governments. All are represented by the

, with the exception of

Pacheedaht First Nation The Pacheedaht First Nation (, formerly Pacheena) is a band government of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation, based near Port Renfrew on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. They are one of 14 Nuu-chah-nulth band governmen ...

. As of March 2025, there are over 9,900 registered band members between the 14 band councils.

Culture

Whaling

The Nuu-chah-nulth were one of the few Indigenous peoples on the Pacific Coast who hunted whales. Whaling is essential to Nuu-chah-nulth culture and spirituality. It is reflected in stories, songs, names, family lines, and numerous place names throughout their territories. Carbon dating shows that the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples hunted whales over 4000 years ago for both blubber and meat. The Nuu-chah-nulth peoples hunted whales of different species due to the range of territory that they reside in and the migration pattern of the whales. Those most often caught would be either

grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

or humpback whales due to their more docile nature and how close they would come to the shore. There is evidence that occasionally members of the Nuu-chah-nulth nations would hunt an

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

despite the danger and difficulty as a way of showing bravery. Although it was a hazardous undertaking, those that ate “killer whale” regarded both its meat and blubber to be of higher quality than that of the larger whales. While whaling provided the Nuu-chah-nulth nations with an important source of food and blubber - which could be rendered into oil - it also played an important role in social life as well. The chief would lead a whale hunting party that was made up of other prominent members of the community. The traditional whaling practices of the fourteen different Nuu-chah-nulth nations vary as each community has their own distinct traditions, ceremonies, and rituals. Some simplified examples of Nuu-chah-nulth whaling traditions include ceremonial bathing, abstinence, prayer, and ceremony which were to be performed before and after the hunt. These rituals were performed by the chief leading the hunt as well as his wife; the ceremonies were seen as a key factor in determining the outcome of the hunt. Social status didn't just affect who was allowed to join the whaling hunt, it also affected the distribution of the whales’ meat and the blubber. Perhaps the most famous Nuu-chah-nulth artifact in modern years is the

Yuquot Whalers' Shrine ''The Yuquot Whalers' Shrine'' (known also as 'prayer house' or 'washing house'), previously located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, was a site of ritual purification, purification rituals, passed down through the family of a Yuquot chief. ...

, a ritual house-like structure used in the spiritual preparations for whale hunts. Composed of a series of memorial posts depicting spirit figures and the bones of whaling ancestors, it is stored at 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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, having been taken there by European Americans. It was the subject of the film ''The Washing of Tears'', directed by

Hugh Brody Hugh Brody (born 1943) is a British anthropologist, writer, director and lecturer. Education In the 1950s he worked as an accountant in Sheffield before passing the entrance examinations for the University of Oxford. He studied at Trinity Coll ...

. It recounts the rediscovery of the bones and other artifacts at the museum and the efforts by the Mowachaht First Nation, the shrine's original owners, who have been seeking to regain these sacred artifacts.

Food

While the Nuu-chah-nulth nations did rely on whaling as an important food and oil resource, the territories they lived had many other food sources. The Nuu-chah-nulth peoples gathered food from marine environments including fish species such as halibut, herring, rockfish, and salmon which were caught along the coast while along the shoreline other sea inhabitant like clams, sea urchins, and mussels were harvested at low tide. Salmon streams were tended to ensure their continued strength and the fish were either cooked in large wooden vessels using water and hot stones or dried to be consumed during the winter. Nuu-chah-nulth nations also gathered resources from the land as food sources. Some of these edible plants include camas root,

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s from ferns and many different variety of berries such as blueberry and huckleberry to name a few examples. Some of the Nuu-chah-nulth nations also tended the growth of camas root and Crabapple trees in order to maintain them as a source of food. Within Nuu-chah-nulth nations individuals passed down their extensive knowledge of when and where to find these marine and land based foods through the generations from elders to youth. This is done both through comprehensive

oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

and through actively teaching children these important skills and having them participate in the collection of resources at a young age. In an effort to revive traditional diets, the

and sixteen tribes have contributed to recipes in a traditional wild food cookbook. The 90-page cookbook focuses on traditional recipes and seasonal ingredients from the west coast of Vancouver Island and Northern Washington. It explores

First Nations cuisine First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared an ...

and adds cooking tips, cultural observations, and oral history anecdotes. ''Čamus'' (chum-us) features traditional and wild ingredients. ''Čamus'' explores the art of how to butterfly a salmon and how to can fish, also providing recipes for marinated seaweed, steam pit cooking, and Nuu-chah-nulth ''upskwee''. ''Čamus'' illuminates a traditional way of eating while promoting a healthy lifestyle. The First Nations of Vancouver Island's west coast and northern Washington link family and community in their respectful treatment of their territories' freshest ingredients.

Cedar tree use

Nuu-chah-nulth nations also used the wood and bark of

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and yellow cedar trees as both a building material and to produce many different objects. Artists and wood workers within a nation would carve full logs into totem poles and ocean going canoes, and the bark would be torn into strips and softened in water until malleable enough to be woven into baskets, clothing, and ceremonial regalia. Image:Nootka woman with baskets for sale that she made.jpg, A Nuu-chah-nulth woman selling baskets in Nootka Sound in the 1930s Image:Nuu-chah-nulth Basket.jpg, Nuu-chah-nulth basket about two inches wide

Social hierarchy

Due to the abundance of resources throughout the territories of the Nuu-chah-nulth nations, social life became more structured and a visible hierarchy formed within the communities. These consisted of the commoner class, and the chiefs that controlled the region. While members of the commoner class had autonomy they still required the consent of the chief to fish, hunt, and forage within the communities’ territory. While being in control of ceremonial and territorial rights, chiefs were also responsible for the

redistribution of wealth Redistribution of income and wealth is the transfer of income and wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, con ...

within their communities. This redistribution of wealth was a key societal factor for the Nuu-chah-nulth nations. A chief's status is realized and maintained by their ability to provide for the members of their nation. By dictating the use of resources, chiefs could maintain social structure, and ensure the continued viability and strength of those resources.

Potlatch

The Nuu-chah-nulth and other Pacific Northwest cultures are famous for their

potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...

ceremonies, in which the host honours guests with generous gifts. The term 'potlatch' is ultimately a word of Nuu-chah-nulth origin. The purpose of the potlatch is manifold: redistribution of wealth, maintenance and recognition of social status, cementing alliances, the celebration and solemnization of marriage, and commemoration of important events.

Notable people

George Clutesi George Clutesi, (1905 – 27 February 1988), was a Tseshaht First Nation, Tseshaht artist, actor and writer, as well as an expert on and ambassador for all indigenous peoples in Canada, Canadian First Nations culture. Biography Clutesi was born ...

, artist, actor, writer * Samuel Haiyupis, carver * Charlotte Coté, author, professor

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Ellis, David, W.; & Swan, Luke. (1981). ''Teachings of the Tides: Uses of Marine Invertebrates by the Manhousat People''. Nanaimo, British Columbia: Theytus Books. * Hoover, Alan L. (Ed.). (2002). ''Nuu-Chah-Nulth Voices: Histories, Objects & Journeys''. Victoria, B. C.: Royal British Columbia Museum. * Kim, Eun-Sook. (2003). ''Theoretical Issues in Nuu-Chah-Nulth Phonology and Morphology.'' (Doctoral Dissertation, University Of British Columbia, Department Of Linguistics). * McMillian, Alan D. (1999). ''Since the Time of the Transformers: The Ancient Heritage of Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Ditidaht, and Makah.'' Vancouver: UBC Press. * * Sapir, Edward; & Swadesh, Morris. (1939). ''Nootka Texts: Tales and Ethnological Narratives with Grammatical Notes and Lexical Materials''. Philadelphia: Linguistic Society Of America. * Sapir, Edward; & Swadesh, Morris. (1955). ''Native Accounts of Nootka Ethnography''. Publication of the Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics (No. 1); ''International Journal of American Linguistics'' (Vol. 21, No. 4, Pt. 2). Bloomington: Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics. (Reprinted 1978 In New York: AMS Press, ). * Shank, Scott; & Wilson, Ian. (2000). "Acoustic Evidence for As a Glottalized Pharyngeal Glide in Nuu-Chah-Nulth." In S. Gessner & S. Oh (Eds.), ''Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages'' (pp. 185–197). ''UBC Working Papers in Linguistics'' (Vol. 3).