Masset Inlet is a large saltwater bay located in the heart of the lowland of northern

Graham Island Graham Island () is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago (previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), lying off the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other pr ...

, the northernmost and largest island of the

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Heca ...

islands on the

North Coast of British Columbia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is fed by several rivers, the largest of which is the Yakoun River, and is connected to the open sea of the

Dixon Entrance The Dixon Entrance (french: Entrée Dixon) is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. The Dixon Entrance is part o ...

by the narrow

Masset Sound Masset Sound is a saltwater inlet on Graham Island, the largest and northernmost of the Haida Gwaii islands of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, connecting Masset Inlet in the island's interior with the open sea via Masset Harbour an ...

and Masset Harbour, which opens onto McIntyre Bay. The communities of

Port Clements Port Clements is an incorporated village situated at the east end of Masset Inlet in Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands) off the coast of the Province of British Columbia in Canada. Known as Gamadiis in HlG̱aagilda X̱aayda ki ...

and

Sewall Sewall is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Arthur Sewall (1835–1900), Shipbuilder and American Democratic politician from Maine * Charles S. Sewall (1779–1848), American politician * Doug Sewall, American wheelchair curl ...

are located on the shores of Masset Inlet. The community of

Juskatla Juskatla is a settlement on Juus Ḵáahlii (formerly Juskatla Inlet), a sidewater off the southern end of Masset Inlet on Graham Island, the largest and northernmost of the Haida Gwaii islands off the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Bac ...

is located on Juus Ḵáahlii, the largest of Masset Inlet's arms. There are several islands in the inlet, the largest of which is Kumdis Island, at the inlet's egress to Masset Sound and just north of Port Clements. Masset Inlet helps form the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

of the Naikoon Peninsula. According to Walbran Masset Inlet (as well as Masset Island,

and the village of

Masset Masset , formerly ''Massett'', is a village in Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Masset Sound on the northern coast of Graham Island, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately west of mainland British Col ...

) came from the Haida word ''Masst'', meaning "large island". Captain Douglas, on his second visit from

Nootka Sound , image = Morning on Nootka Sound.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Clouds over Nootka Sound , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = Map of Nootka So ...

aboard the ''Iphigenia'' on June 19, 1789 named the bay leading to the inlet ''McIntyre's Bay''. This name was used on the charts of Dixon and Meares. The American traders called the inlet ''Hancock's River'' as shown in Ingraham's chart of 1792 after the American brig ''Hancock''. In 1853 H.N. Knox of the Royal Navy, mate on ''HMS Virago'' did a sketch survey of the harbour when the name Masset was adopted by the British. A survey was made in 1907 by Captain Learmouth on ''HMS Egeria''.

References

External links

* Bays of British Columbia Graham Island {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub