The Wuikinuxv , ("Backbone people"), also rendered Oweekano (Pre-1976); ''Oowekeeno'' (1976-2003) (variation: ''Oweekeno, Owekano, Oweekayno, Wuikenukv, Wikeno, Owikeno, Awikenox'', and also known as the Rivers Inlet people, are an Indigenous First Nations people of the Central Coast region of 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, ...

, located around Rivers Inlet and

Owikeno Lake Owikeno Lake, also Owekeeno Lake, Owekano Lake, Oweekayno Lake and other spellings (pron. "o we KEE no"), is a large fjord lake in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It connects to the head of Rivers Inlet by the short Wannock ...

, to the north of Queen Charlotte Strait. The Wuikinuxv people and their neighbours the Heiltsuk and

Haisla Haisla may refer to: * Haisla people, an indigenous people living in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada. * Haisla language, their northern Wakashan language. * Haisla Nation The Haisla Nation is the Indian Act-mandated band government which nominall ...

peoples were in the past sometimes known incorrectly as the "Northern Kwakiutl".

History

The name used for the main village on Katit Indian Reserve No. 1, which is on an island in the Wannock River, that connects

to Rivers Inlet, "Wannock", means "poison" and refers to an 1848 raid by the Heiltsuk, as recounted by John Thomas Walbran in his authoritative opus on coastal names in British Columbia:

Culture

A recently completed Bighouse, which is the first in many years, is the focus on a rebuilding of Wuikinuxv society. The culture was structured much the same as the other indigenous peoples of the coast. At the height of the coastal civilization, Wuikinuxv territory encompassed the mouth of Rivers Inlet to the head waters of

Ethnobotany

They use the berries of Vaccinium vitis-idaea ssp. minus as food.

Language

Oowekyala Oowekyala , also ''Ooweekeeno'' and ''’Wuik̓ala'' in the language itself, is a dialect (or a sublanguage) of Heiltsuk-Oowekyala, a Northern Wakashan language spoken around Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake in the Central Coast region of the C ...

, the language of the Wuikinuxv, is closely related to the

Heiltsuk language Heiltsuk , also known as Haíɫzaqv, Bella Bella and Haihais, is a dialect of the North Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language Heiltsuk-Oowekyala that is spoken by the Haihai ( Xai'xais) and Bella Bella First Nations peoples of the Central Coast region ...

, so much so that it is considered one of two dialects of a language named

Heiltsuk-Oowekyala Heiltsuk-Oowekyala is a Northern Wakashan (Kwakiutlan) language spoken in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, spoken by the Wuikinuxv (Oweekeno) and Heiltsuk peoples. It has two dialects, Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) ...

, the other dialect being Heiltsuk. It is also closely related to

and is also related to Kwak'wala, the most widely spoken of the Northern Wakashan languages. It is more distantly related to

Nuu-chah-nulth The Nuu-chah-nulth (; Nuučaan̓uł: ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifte ...

, Ditidaht and Makah, the Southern Wakashan languages.

Government

The government of the Wuikinuxv people is the Wuikinuxv Nation. The Wuikinuxv Nation is a member of the Wuikinuxv-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council, based in the town of Bella Coola.

Location and services

At present the small community of Rivers Inlet which is situated on the banks of the 3 km Wannock River is the main centre in Wuikinuxv territory; adjacent to it is the non-Indian reserve First Nations community of

Oweekeno Oweekeno is a First Nations village of the Wuikinuxv located on the north bank of the Wannock River just upstream from its mouth into Rivers Inlet Rivers Inlet is a fjord in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, i ...

.BC Names/GeoBC entry "Oweekeno (First Nation Village)"
/ref> It has an airstrip and daily service from a local airline. In the summer months, airline service is disrupted by the traffic in and out of the sport-fishing camps.

Notes

References

''We Are the Wuikinuxv Nation: Wuikinuxv/Rivers Inlet'', Pam Brown, Pacific Northwest Curator, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 2001

External links

Wuikinuxv Nation webpage
{{authority control Central Coast of British Columbia First Nations in British Columbia