The Kwakiutl First Nation is a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

government based on northern

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 ...

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, ...

, Canada, focused on the community of

Port Hardy, British Columbia Port Hardy is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada located on the north-east end of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy has a population of 4,132 as of the last census (2016). It is the gateway to Cape Scott Provincial Park, the North C ...

in the

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 = ...

region, and also known as the Fort Rupert Band, known in traditional Kwakwaka'wakw terms as the Kwagu'ł or Kwagyewlth. It is a member of the

Kwakiutl District Council The Kwakiutl District Council, also spelled Kwakwewlth District Council and Kwakiuth District Council, pronounced Kwagiulth District Council, is a First Nations Tribal Council based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, based in the comm ...

. It is currently in stage 4 of the

British Columbia Treaty Process The British Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP) is a land claims negotiation process started in 1993 to resolve outstanding issues, including claims to un-extinguished indigenous rights, with British Columbia's First Nations. Two treaties have been ...

, having submitted a statement of intent in 1997. The chief of the Kwakiutl is Councillor Grace Wilson. There are approximately 835 members of the Kwakiutl nation.

History

In 1851, the ancestors of the Kwakiutl entered into treaties with James Douglas, then acting as agent for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

, so that the company could gain access to coal deposits on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island. However the nation asserts that the treaty was violated and has been in litigation with the province of British Columbia for a number of years.

History

References

See also