Gwayasdums is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples on the west side of

Gilford Island Gilford Island is an island in British Columbia, Canada, located between Tribune Channel and Knight Inlet. The island has an area of . Turnour Island is to the south across Tribune Channel, the entrance to Thompson Sound to the east. Port Eliz ...

in the

Johnstone Strait , image = Pacific Ranges over Johnstone Strait.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Johnstone Strait backdropped by the Vancouver Island Ranges , image_bathymetry = Carte baie Knight ...

region of the

Central Coast of British Columbia , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Coast" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = British ...

, Canada. The village, located on

Retreat Pass Retreat Passage is a short strait and marine waterway between Gilford Island (E) and Bonwick Island (W) in the Broughton Archipelago of the eastern Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada Canada is a ...

, is on Gwayasdums Indian Reserve No. 1. Other spellings of the name are Kwaustums and gwa'yasdams and Gwa'yasdams and Gwa’yasdams. The locality has also been known as Health Bay, also the name for an adjoining body of water at which is a side bay. Health Lagoon is nearby Gwayasdums just to the south at .

History

Gwayasdums, which today has about 70 residents, is the ancestral home of the

Kwikwasut’inuxw The Kwikwasut'inuxw are one of the many subgroups of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Their ancestral home is at Gwayasdums on Village Island, which was destroyed by the Nuxalk in 1856. The Kwikwasut'inu ...

, though it has been used by many other Kwakwaka'wakw groups over time. The village was destroyed by the

Nuxalk The Nuxalk people (Nuxalk: ''Nuxalkmc''; pronounced )'','' also referred to as the Bella Coola, Bellacoola or Bilchula, are an Indigenous First Nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast, centred in the area in and around Bella Coola, British Columb ...

in 1856, possibly in relation to a famine at Bella Coola resulting from the closing of

Fort McLoughlin Fort McLoughlin was a fur trading post established in 1833 by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) on Campbell Island in present-day British Columbia, Canada. At the time the Hudson's Bay Company performed quasi-governmental duties on behalf of the Br ...

. The survivors joined the

Mamalilikulla The Mamalilikala (Mamalelequala, Mamalilikulla, Mamalillaculla, Mamaleleqala) are an indigenous nation, a part of the Kwakwaka'wakw, in central British Columbia, on northern Vancouver Island. Their main village was Memkumlis ('Mimkwamlis), locat ...

Memkumlis Memkumlis or, officially Meem Quam Leese, Memkoomlish, Memqumlis, 'mimkumlis or Mi'mkwamlis, commonly known as Mamalilaculla, which is actually the name of the subgroup of the Kwakwaka'wakw whose home it is, is located on the west side of Villag ...

Village Island Village Island is an island in the Johnstone Strait region of the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, located on the northwest side of Turnour Island. The Kwakwaka'wakw village of Memkumlis or Meem Quam Leese or Memkoomlish, common ...

. The Gwawa’enuxw, the Haxwa’mis, and the Dzawada’enuxw began to use Gwayasdums as a joint winter village Between 1865 and 1879. In the 1890s the Kwikwasut'inuxw began to return though joint occupation and use continued into the 20th Century.Simon Fraser University Virtual Village project, Gwayasdums page
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References

External links

''Hith Alis Lax Gwa-yas-dums: Moving for Crisis to Hope at Gwa-yas-dums Village''
report prepared for the KHFN by Bob Chamberlin, William Trousdale, and Jeff Cook, Plan Canada, Summer 2008
Kwikwasut'inuxw Haxwa'mis First Nation website
{{coord, 50, 42, 00, N, 126, 36, 00, W, display=title, source:BCNames, name=Gwayasdums Kwakwaka'wakw villages Central Coast of British Columbia Indigenous conflicts in Canada

History

See also

References

External links