Cape Sutil is the

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

at the northernmost point of

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

, in the

Canadian Province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Toponymy

Cape Sutil was named in 1792 by Spanish explorers

Dionisio Alcalá Galiano Dionisio Alcalá Galiano (8 October 1760 – 21 October 1805) was a Spanish naval officer, cartographer, and explorer. He mapped various coastlines in Europe and the Americas with unprecedented accuracy using new technology such as chronomete ...

and

Cayetano Valdés y Flores Cayetano Valdés y Flores Bazán (1767–1835) was a commander of the Spanish Navy, explorer, and captain general who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, fighting for both sides at different times due to the changing fortune ...

during their circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, done in partial cooperation with

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

. The name refers to Galiano's

goleta Goleta or La Goleta may refer to: * ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus * Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County * La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...

, '' Sutil''. In 1860 or 1862

George Henry Richards Sir George Henry Richards (13 January 1820 –14 November 1896) was Hydrographer of the Royal Navy from 1863 to 1874. Biography Richards was born in Antony, Cornwall, the son of Captain G. S. Richards, and joined the Royal Navy in 1832. ...

named the headland Cape Commerell. The name Sutil was restored by the Geographic Board of Canada in 1905 or 1906.

Geography

Cape Sutil is the northernmost point of Vancouver Island. It is located at the western end of

Goletas Channel Goletas Channel is a channel and strait on the north side of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It separates Vancouver Island from Hope Island and Nigei Island, located just east of Cape Sutil, the northernmost point of Vancouver Isla ...

near Hope Island. The westernmost point of Hope Island, Mexicana Point, was named for Cayetano Valdés's vessel, '' Mexicana''. Goletas Channel was also named by Galiano and Valdés in 1792.

BC Geographical Names The BC Geographical Names (formerly BC Geographical Names Information System or BCGNIS) is a geographic name web service and database for the Canadian province of British Columbia run by the Base Mapping and Geomatic Services Branch of the Integra ...

uses a line between Cape Sutil and

Cape Caution Cape Caution is a headland along the Central Coast of the Canadian Province of British Columbia. It is the point where Queen Charlotte Strait meets Queen Charlotte Sound, as well as where Mount Waddington Regional District meets Central Coast ...

to separate Queen Charlotte Sound and

Queen Charlotte Strait , image = Canadian pilot, near Port Hardy BC.jpg , alt = , caption = A pilot boat plies Queen Charlotte Strait near Port Hardy , image_bathymetry = Locmap-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = ...

History

Nahwitti was a

Kwakwakaʼwakw The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw (), also known as the Kwakiutl (; "Kwakʼwala-speaking peoples") are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their current population, according to a 2016 census, is 3,665. Most live in their traditi ...

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

village located just east of Cape Sutil. It was a major trading site during the

maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in ex ...

era of approximately 1790 to 1850. Today it is an

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

under the administration of the Kwakwakaʼwakw

Tlatlasikwala Nation The Tlatlasikwala Nation is a First Nations band government based on northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, focused on the community of Port Hardy, British Columbia in the Queen Charlotte Strait region. It is a member of the Kwakiut ...

. During the early 19th century Nahwitti was the principal town of the Nahwitti First Nation. It was one of the most popular sites for

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

trading vessels on the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

coast, and the primary point of contact with the Kwakwakaʼwakw peoples. Hundreds of trading vessels, mostly

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, visited during this time, mainly seeking

sea otter The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the small ...

skins to take to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, where they commanded a high price. In 1850–1851 the village of Nahwitti was shelled and burned to the ground twice by the

British Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Most of the inhabitants fled to

Bull Harbour Bull Harbour is a settlement in British Columbia, Canada. Bull Harbour is a settlement on Hope Island, just north of northern Vancouver Island across Goletas Channel. It has an estimated population of 2-20 people. The name Bull Harbour has be ...

on Hope Island. The Nahwitti people called their new village on Hope Island "Meloopa". Many eventually relocated again to

Alert Bay Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island (British Columbia), Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Can ...

. The village site on Hope Island remains an Indian reserve called "Hope Island 1". Near the original village, on Cape Sutil, is a reserve called "Nahwitti 4".

References

{{Reflist First Nations history in British Columbia Headlands of British Columbia Kwakwaka'wakw Northern Vancouver Island