Whulk or xwalkw, meaning "(logs) place crossewise", was a Kwakwaka'wakw village at the mouth of the

Nimpkish River The Nimpkish River is a river in northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is the longest river on the Island, rising on the west slope of Mount Alston, flowing northwest into Nimpkish Lake and then north into the Broughton Stra ...

on northern

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 ...

, which was a place of origin for some of the groups comprising today's 'Namgis group of Kwakwaka'wakw, who now reside mostly at Yalis on Cormorant Island (i.e.

Alert Bay Indian Reserve No. 1 Alert or ALERT may refer to: * Alertness, the state of active attention by high sensory awareness. Places * Alert, Iran * Alert, Indiana, U.S. * Alert, North Carolina, U.S. * Alert, Ohio, U.S. * Alert, Nunavut, Canada ** Alert Airport * Alert ...

). At Whulk, in legendary times, the

Transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

''Q!a'neqe lak'' married the daughter of a chief of Whulk, ''Gwa' nalalis'', who was later transformer into the

, which is known as ''gwa' ne'' in Kwak'wala When visited respectively by Galiano and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in 1792, there were 34 houses at Whulk, with a population estimated as 200–900 at the time. The site is also known as Cheslakees, though attempts to connect that name with names documented in oral history have failed, though it is supposed to be the name of the village's leading chief at the time of Galiano's and Vancouver's visits. Ches-la-kee Indian Reserve No. 3 was created in 1886 including the location of Whulk.BC Names/GeoBC entry "Ches-la-kee 3 (Indian reserve)"
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References

Kwakwaka'wakw villages Northern Vancouver Island {{FirstNations-stub

See also

References