Smith Inlet is an

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

at the head of

Smith Sound Smith Sound ( da, Smith Sund; french: Détroit de Smith) is an uninhabited Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island. It links Baffin Bay with Kane Basin and forms part of the Nares Strait. On the ...

on the Central Coast of

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. Smith Inlet and Smith Sound are notable as the home of the Gwaʼsala group of the

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 ...

peoples, who are also known as the Smith Inlet people. Nekite Indian Reserve No. 2, which is under the governance of the

Gwaʼsala-ʼNakwaxdaʼxw Nations The Gwa'Sala-Nakwaxda'xw Nations are a union of two Kwakwaka'wakw peoples in a band government based on northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, whose main reserve community is near the town of Port Hardy in the Queen Charlotte Strait ...

band government In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

, is located at the head of Smith Inlet, at the mouth of the Nekite River.BC Names/GeoBC entry "Nekite River"
/ref> Smith Inlet is the childhood home of figure skater and magician Greg Ladret and world and Olympic team member

Doug Ladret Douglas James Ladret (born November 13, 1961) is a Canadian figure skating coach and former competitive pair skater. With Christine Hough, he is the 1987 Skate Canada International champion, 1989 NHK Trophy bronze medallist, and 1988 Canadian n ...

History

Peter Puget Peter Puget (1765 – 31 October 1822) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of Puget Sound. Midshipman Puget Puget's ancestors had fled France for Britain during Louis XIV's persecution of the Huguenots. His father, ...

and

Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first European to discover and char ...

, two of

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 ...

's officers during his 1791-95 expedition, first charted the inlet in 1792.

References

Fjords of British Columbia Central Coast of British Columbia Kwakwaka'wakw Inlets of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub