The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw (), also known as the Kwakiutl (; "
Kwakʼwala
Kwakʼwala or Kwak̓wala (), previously known as Kwakiutl (), is a Wakashan language spoken by about 450 Kwakwakaʼwakw people around Queen Charlotte Strait in Western Canada. It has shared considerable influence with other languages of the ...
-speaking peoples"), are an
indigenous group of the Pacific Northwest Coast, in southwestern
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. Their total population, according to a 2016 census, was 3,665 people. Most live in their traditional territories on northern
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...
, as well as nearby smaller islands (such as the
Discovery Islands
The Discovery Islands are a group of islands located at the northern end of the Salish Sea and the eastern end of Johnstone Strait, between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada.
Most of these islands have very ...
) and inland on the adjacent
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
mainland. Some also live outside their traditional homelands, in urban areas such as
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
and
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. They are politically-organized into 13
band government
In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...
s.
The Kwakwaka'wakw language, now spoken by only 3.1% of the population, consists of four dialects of what is commonly referred to as
Kwakʼwala
Kwakʼwala or Kwak̓wala (), previously known as Kwakiutl (), is a Wakashan language spoken by about 450 Kwakwakaʼwakw people around Queen Charlotte Strait in Western Canada. It has shared considerable influence with other languages of the ...
, known as
Kwak̓wala, 'Nak̓wala, G̱uc̓ala and
T̓łat̓łasik̓wala.
Name
The name ''Kwakiutl'' derives from ''
Kwaguʼł''—the name of a single community of Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw located at
Fort Rupert
Fort Rupert is the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort on the east coast near the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The unincorporated community on Beaver Harbour is about by road southeast of Port Hardy.
Coal & ...
. The anthropologist
Franz Boas
Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...
had done most of his anthropological work in this area and popularized the term for both this nation and the collective as a whole. The term became misapplied to mean all the nations who spoke Kwakʼwala, as well as three other Indigenous peoples whose language is a part of the
Wakashan
Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
As is typical of the Nor ...
linguistic group, but whose language is not Kwakʼwala. These peoples, incorrectly known as the Northern Kwakiutl, were the
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 repr ...
,
Wuikinuxv
The Wuikinuxv (, ("Backbone people"); also Oweekano (Pre-1976); ''Oowekeeno'' (1976-2003) (variations: ''Oweekeno, Owekano, Oweekayno, Wuikenukv, Wikeno, Owikeno, Awikenox'', or the Rivers Inlet people) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Nor ...
, and
Heiltsuk
The Heiltsuk , sometimes historically referred to as ''Bella Bella'', or ''Híɫzaqv'' are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Central Coast Regional District, Central Coast region in British Columbia, ...
.
Many people who others call "Kwakiutl" consider that name a misnomer.
They prefer the name ''Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw'', which means "
Kwakʼwala
Kwakʼwala or Kwak̓wala (), previously known as Kwakiutl (), is a Wakashan language spoken by about 450 Kwakwakaʼwakw people around Queen Charlotte Strait in Western Canada. It has shared considerable influence with other languages of the ...
-speaking-peoples".
One exception is the
Laich-kwil-tach
Laich-kwil-tach (also spelled Liǧʷiłdaxʷ), is the Anglicization of the Kwak'wala autonomy by the "Southern Kwakiutl" people of Quadra Island and Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada. There are today two main groups (of perhaps five ...
at
Campbell River—they are known as the Southern Kwakiutl, and their council is 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 in Canada, First Nations Tribal Council based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, C ...
.
History
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw
oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from
people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
says their ancestors (''ʼnaʼmima'') came in the forms of animals via the land, sea and from underground. When one of these ancestral creatures arrived at a given spot, it shed its animal appearance and became human. Animals that figure in these
origin myth
An origin myth is a type of myth that explains the beginnings of a natural or social aspect of the world. Creation myths are a type of origin myth narrating the formation of the universe. However, numerous cultures have stories that take place a ...
s include the
Thunderbird and his brother,
Kolas, the
seagull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...
,
orca
The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...
,
grizzly bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
, or chief ghost. Some ancestors have human origins and are said to come from distant places.
Historically, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw economy was based primarily on fishing, with the men also engaging in some hunting, and the women gathering wild fruits and berries. Ornate weaving and woodwork were important crafts, and wealth, defined by
slaves
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
and material goods, was prominently displayed and traded at
potlatch
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...
ceremonies. These customs were the subject of extensive study by the
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
Franz Boas
Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...
. In contrast to most non-native societies, wealth and status were not determined by how much you had, but by how much you had to give away. This act of giving away your wealth was one of the main acts in a potlatch.
The first documented contact with Europeans was with Captain
George Vancouver
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...
in 1792. Disease, which developed as a result of direct contact with European settlers along the West Coast of Canada, drastically reduced the Indigenous Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw population during the late 19th-early 20th century. Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw population dropped by 75% between 1830 and 1880. The
1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic
The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic was a smallpox outbreak that started in Victoria on Vancouver Island and spread among the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and into the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, ki ...
alone killed over half of the people.
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw dancers from Vancouver Island performed at the
1893 World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...
in Chicago.
An account of experiences of two founders of early
residential schools for Aboriginal children was published in 2006 by the
University of British Columbia Press
The University of British Columbia Press (UBC Press) is a university press that is part of the University of British Columbia. It is a mid-sized scholarly publisher, and the largest in Western Canada.
The press is based in Vancouver, British Col ...
. ''Good Intentions Gone Awry – Emma Crosby and the Methodist Mission On the Northwest Coast'' by
Jan Hare and Jean Barman contains the letters and account of the life of the wife of
Thomas Crosby, the first missionary in
Lax Kwʼalaams (Port Simpson). This covers the period from 1870 to the turn of the 20th century.
A second book was published in 2005 by the
University of Calgary Press
The University of Calgary Press is a university publishing house that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Calgary. Located in Calgary, Alberta, it publishes peer-reviewed scholarly books that connect local experiences to global com ...
, ''The Letters of Margaret Butcher – Missionary Imperialism on the North Pacific Coast'', edited by Mary-Ellen Kelm. It picks up the story from 1916 to 1919 in
Kitamaat Village
Kitamaat Village, formerly Kitimat Mission, is the principal community of the Haisla people and their government, the Haisla Nation. Located on the ''Kitamaat 2'' First Nations Reserve (formerly Kitimat 2) on the east side of Kitimat Arm just so ...
and details of Butcher's experiences among the Haisla people.
A review article entitled ''Mothers of a Native Hell'', about these two books, was published in the British Columbia online news magazine ''
The Tyee
The Tyee is an independent daily news website based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in November 2003 as an alternative to corporate media. Articles in The Tyee focus on politics, culture, and life.
The Tyee was founded b ...
'' in 2007.
Restoring their ties to their land, culture and rights, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw have undertaken much in bringing back their customs, beliefs and language. Potlatches occur more frequently as families reconnect to their birthright, and the community uses language programs, classes and social events to
restore the language. Artists in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as
Mungo Martin
Chief Mungo Martin or ''Nakapenkem'' (lit. ''Potlatch chief "ten times over"''), ''Datsa'' (lit. ''"grandfather"''), was an important figure in Northwest Coast style art, specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw Aboriginal people who live in the ...
,
Ellen Neel and
Willie Seaweed, have taken efforts to revive
Kwakwakaʼwakw art and culture.
Divisions
Each Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nation has its own
clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
s, chiefs, history, culture and peoples, but remain collectively similar to the rest of the Kwak̓wala-Speaking nations.
Society
Kinship
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw kinship is based on a bilinear structure, with loose characteristics of a patrilineal culture. It has large extended families and interconnected community life. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw are made up of numerous communities or bands. Within those communities they are organized into extended family units or ''naʼmima,'' which means 'of one kind'. Each ''naʼmima'' had positions that carried particular responsibilities and privileges. Each community had around four ''naʼmima'', although some had more, some had less.
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw follow their genealogy back to their ancestral roots. A head chief who, through
primogeniture
Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...
, could trace his origins to that ''naʼmimas ancestors delineated the roles throughout the rest of his family. Every
clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
had several sub-chiefs, who gained their titles and position through their own family's primogeniture. These chiefs organized their people to harvest the communal lands that belonged to their family.
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw society was organized into four classes: the nobility, attained through birthright and connection in lineage to ancestors, the aristocracy who attained status through connection to wealth, resources or spiritual powers displayed or distributed in the potlatch, commoners, and slaves. On the nobility class, "the noble was recognized as the literal conduit between the social and spiritual domains, birthright alone was not enough to secure rank: only individuals displaying the correct moral behavior
icthroughout their life course could maintain ranking status."
Property
As in other Northwest Coast peoples, the concept of property was well developed and important to daily life. Territorial property such as hunting or fishing grounds was inherited, and from these properties material wealth was collected and stored.
Economy
A trade and barter
subsistence economy
A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing and shelter) rather than to the market.
Definition
"Subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself and family at a minimum level. Basic subsiste ...
formed the early stages of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw economy. Trade was carried out between internal Kwakwakaʼwakw nations, as well as surrounding Indigenous nations such as the
Tsimshian
The Tsimshian (; ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terrace and ...
,
Tlingit
The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...
, the
Nuu-chah-nulth
The Nuu-chah-nulth ( ; ), 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 fifteen related tri ...
and
Coast Salish
The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...
peoples.
Over time, the
potlatch
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...
tradition created a demand for stored surpluses, as such a display of wealth had social implications. By the time of European colonialism, it was noted that wool blankets had become a form of common
currency
A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...
. In the potlatch tradition, hosts of the potlatch were expected to provide enough gifts for all the guests invited. This practice created a system of
loan
In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.
The document evidencing the deb ...
and
interest
In finance and economics, interest is payment from a debtor or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distinct f ...
, using wool blankets as currency.
[Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 35]
As with other Pacific Northwest nations, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw highly valued copper in their economy and used it for ornament and precious goods.
Scholars have proposed that prior to trade with Europeans, the people acquired copper from natural copper veins along riverbeds, but this has not been proven. Contact with European settlers, particularly through the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
, brought an influx of copper to their territories. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nations also were aware of
silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
and
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
, and crafted intricate bracelets and jewellery from hammered coins traded from European settlers.
[Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 173] Copper was given a special value amongst the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, most likely for its ceremonial purposes. This copper was beaten into sheets or plates, and then painted with mythological figures.
The sheets were used for decorating wooden carvings or kept for the sake of prestige.
Individual pieces of copper were sometimes given names based on their value.
The value of any given piece was defined by the number of wool blankets last traded for them. In this system, it was considered prestigious for a buyer to purchase the same piece of copper at a higher price than it was previously sold, in their version of an art market.
During potlatch, copper pieces would be brought out, and bids were placed on them by rival chiefs. The highest bidder would have the honour of buying said copper piece.
If a host still held a surplus of copper after throwing an expensive potlatch, he was considered a wealthy and important man.
Highly ranked members of the communities often have the Kwakʼwala word for "copper" as part of their names.
Copper's importance as an indicator of status also led to its use in a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw
shaming ritual. The copper cutting ceremony involved breaking copper plaques. The act represents a challenge; if the target cannot break a plaque of equal or greater value, he or she is shamed. The ceremony, which had not been performed since the 1950s, was revived by chief
Beau Dick in 2013, as part of the
Idle No More
Idle No More is an ongoing protest movement, founded in December 2012 by four women: three First Nations women and one non-Native ally. It is a grassroots movement among the Indigenous peoples in Canada comprising the First Nations, Métis a ...
movement. He performed a copper cutting ritual on the lawn of the
British Columbia Legislature
The Legislature of British Columbia is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada), and the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (which meets at the British Columbia Parliament Buildings). The Legislature ...
on February 10, 2013, to ritually shame the
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
government.
Culture
The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw are a highly stratified bilineal culture of the Pacific Northwest. They are many separate nations, each with its own history, culture and governance. The Nations commonly each had a head chief, who acted as the leader of the nation, with numerous hereditary clan or family chiefs below him. In some of the nations, there also existed ''Eagle Chiefs'', but this was a separate society within the main society and applied to the potlatching only.
The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw are one of the few bilineal cultures. Traditionally the rights of the family would be passed down through the paternal side, but in rare occasions, the rights could pass on the maternal side of their family also. Within the pre-colonization times, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw were organized into three classes: nobles, commoners, and slaves. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw shared many cultural and political alliances with numerous neighbours in the area, including the
Nuu-chah-nulth
The Nuu-chah-nulth ( ; ), 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 fifteen related tri ...
,
Heiltsuk
The Heiltsuk , sometimes historically referred to as ''Bella Bella'', or ''Híɫzaqv'' are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Central Coast Regional District, Central Coast region in British Columbia, ...
,
Wuikinuxv
The Wuikinuxv (, ("Backbone people"); also Oweekano (Pre-1976); ''Oowekeeno'' (1976-2003) (variations: ''Oweekeno, Owekano, Oweekayno, Wuikenukv, Wikeno, Owikeno, Awikenox'', or the Rivers Inlet people) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Nor ...
and some
Coast Salish
The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...
.
Language
The
Kwakʼwala
Kwakʼwala or Kwak̓wala (), previously known as Kwakiutl (), is a Wakashan language spoken by about 450 Kwakwakaʼwakw people around Queen Charlotte Strait in Western Canada. It has shared considerable influence with other languages of the ...
language is a part of the
Wakashan language group. Word lists and some documentation of Kwakʼwala were created from the early period of contact with Europeans in the 18th century, but a systematic attempt to record the language did not occur before the work of
Franz Boas
Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...
in the late 19th and early 20th century. The use of Kwakʼwala declined significantly in the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly due to the
assimilationist
Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this concept. A relat ...
policies of the Canadian government. Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw children were forced to attend
residential schools, which enforced English use and discouraged other languages. Although Kwakʼwala and Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw culture have been well-studied by linguists and anthropologists, these efforts did not reverse the trends leading to
language loss
Language attrition is the process of decreasing proficiency in or losing a language. For first or native language attrition, this process is generally caused by both isolation from speakers of the first language ("L1") and the acquisition and use o ...
. According to Guy Buchholtzer, "The anthropological discourse had too often become a long monologue, in which the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw had nothing to say."
As a result of these pressures, there are relatively few Kwakʼwala speakers today. Most remaining speakers are past the age of child-rearing, which is considered a crucial stage for language transmission. As with many other Indigenous languages, there are significant barriers to
language revitalization
Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community group ...
. Another barrier separating new learners from the native speaker is the presence of four separate orthographies; the young are taught Uʼmista or NAPA, while the older generations generally use Boaz, developed by the American anthropologist Franz Boas.
A number of revitalization efforts are underway. A 2005 proposal to build a Kwakwakaʼwakw First Nations Centre for Language Culture has gained wide support. A review of revitalization efforts in the 1990s showed that the potential to fully revitalize Kwakʼwala still remained, but serious hurdles also existed.
Arts
In the old times, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw believed that art symbolized a common underlying element shared by all species.
Kwakwakaʼwakw arts consist of a diverse range of crafts, including totems, masks, textiles, jewellery and carved objects, ranging in size from
transformation masks to tall
totem pole
Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...
s.
Cedar
Cedar may refer to:
Trees and plants
*''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae
* Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar
Places United States
* Cedar, Arizona
...
wood was the preferred medium for sculpting and carving projects as it was readily available in the native Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw regions. Totems were carved with bold cuts, a relative degree of realism, and an emphatic use of paints. Masks make up a large portion of Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw art, as masks are important in the portrayal of the characters central to Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw dance ceremonies.
Woven textiles included the
''Chilkat'' blanket, dance aprons and button cloaks, each patterned with Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw designs. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw used a variety of objects for jewellery, including ivory, bone,
abalone
Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...
shell, copper, silver and more. Adornments were frequently found on the clothes of important persons.
Music
Kwakwakaʼwakw music is the ancient art of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw peoples. The music is an ancient art form, stretching back thousands of years. The music is used primarily for ceremony and ritual, and is based on percussive instrumentation, especially log, box, and hide drums, as well as rattles and whistles. The four-day ''Klasila'' festival is an important cultural display of song and dance and masks; it occurs just before the advent of the ''tsetseka'', or winter.
Ceremonies and events
Potlatch
The
potlatch
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...
culture of the Northwest is well known and widely studied. It is still practised among the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, as is the lavish artwork for which they and their neighbours are so renowned. The phenomenon of the potlatch, and the vibrant societies and cultures associated with it, can be found in ''Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch'', which details the incredible artwork and legendary material that go with the other aspects of the potlatch, and gives a glimpse into the high politics and great wealth and power of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw chiefs.
When the Canadian government was focused on assimilation of First Nations, it made the potlatch a target of activities to be suppressed. Missionary William Duncan wrote in 1875 that the potlatch was "by far the most formidable of all obstacles in the way of Indians becoming Christians, or even civilized".
In 1885, the
Indian Act
The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...
was revised to include clauses
banning the potlatch and making it illegal to practise. The official legislation read,
Oʼwax̱a̱laga̱lis, Chief of the
Kwaguʼł "Fort Rupert Tribes", said to anthropologist
Franz Boas
Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...
on October 7, 1886, when he arrived to study their culture:
Eventually the Act was amended, expanded to prohibit guests from participating in the potlatch ceremony. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw were too numerous to police, and the government could not enforce the law.
Duncan Campbell Scott
Duncan Campbell Scott (August 2, 1862 – December 19, 1947) was a Canadian civil servant and poet and prose writer. With Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Archibald Lampman, he is classed as one of Canada's Confederation Poets.
A caree ...
convinced Parliament to change the offence from criminal to summary, which meant "the agents, as justice of the peace, could try a case, convict, and sentence".
Sustaining the customs and culture of their ancestors, in the 21st century the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw openly hold potlatches to commit to the revival of their ancestors' ways. The frequency of potlatches has increased as occur frequently and increasingly more over the years as families reclaim their birthright.
Housing and shelter
The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw built their houses from cedar planks, which are highly water resistant. They were very large, anywhere from long. The houses could hold about 50 people, usually families from the same clan. At the entrance, there was usually a totem pole carved with different animals, mythological figures and family crests.
Clothing and regalia
In summer, men wore no clothing except jewelry. In the winter, they usually rubbed fat on themselves to keep warm. In battle the men wore red cedar armor and helmets, and breech clouts made from cedar. During ceremonies they wore circles of cedar bark on their ankles as well as cedar
breech clouts. The women wore skirts of softened cedar, and a cedar or wool blanket on top during the winter.
Transportation
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw transportation was similar to that of other coastal people. Being an ocean and coastal people, they travelled mainly by canoe. Cedar
dugout canoe
A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (tr ...
s, each made from one log, would be carved for use by individuals, families and communities. Sizes varied from ocean-going canoes, for long sea-worthy travel in trade missions, to smaller local canoes for inter-village travel. Some boats had buffalo fur inside to keep protection from the cold winters.
Notable Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw
*
Alfred Scow Alfred John Scow (born April 10, 1927, in Alert Bay, British Columbia, died Feb 26, 2013) (1927–2013), first Aboriginal person to graduate from a BC law school, the first Aboriginal lawyer called to the BC bar and the first Aboriginal legally trained judge appointed to the BC Provincial Court
*
Sonny Assu
Sonny Assu (born 1975 in Richmond, British Columbia) is a Canadian contemporary artist. Assu's paintings, sculptures, prints, installations, and interventions are all infused with his wry humour which is a tool to open the conversation around his ...
(b. 1975), interdisciplinary artist
*
Joe Peters Jr., artist, woodcarver
*
Beau Dick, artist, woodcarver
*
Gord Hill, artist, author and Indigenous rights activist
*
Calvin Hunt (b. 1956), artist
*
Henry Hunt (1923–1985), artist
*
Richard Hunt (b. 1951), artist
*
Tony Hunt Sr. (1942–2017), artist
*
Charles Joseph, carver from
Maʼamtaglia-Tlowitsis tribe
*
Mungo Martin
Chief Mungo Martin or ''Nakapenkem'' (lit. ''Potlatch chief "ten times over"''), ''Datsa'' (lit. ''"grandfather"''), was an important figure in Northwest Coast style art, specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw Aboriginal people who live in the ...
, woodcarver
*
David Neel, artist, writer
*
Ellen Neel, woodcarver
*
Marianne Nicolson (b. 1969), artist, academic
*
Spencer O'Brien
Spencer O’Brien (born February 2, 1988) is a Canadian snowboarder. She was born in Alert Bay, British Columbia, and is of Indigenous descent. She won the gold medal in slopestyle at the 2013 FIS Snowboarding World Championships.
O’Brien ...
(b. 1988), snowboarder
* Joe Peters Jr. artist, woodcarver (b.1960–1994)
*
Quesalid Quesalid was a Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations shaman who lived on Vancouver Island, Canada. He wrote an autobiography in Kwak'wala, the Kwakiutl language, discovered by Franz Boas and well known by anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist en ...
,
medicine man
A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name i ...
, writer
*
Willie Seaweed, woodcarver
*
James Sewid
James Sewid, (December 31, 1913 – May 18, 1988) was a Canadian fisherman, author and former Chief councillor of the Kwakwaka'wakw at Alert Bay, British Columbia.
In 1969, he published his autobiography ''Guests Never Leave Hungry: The Aut ...
, writer
*
Jody Wilson-Raybould
Jody Wilson-Raybould (born March 23, 1971), also known by her initials JWR and by her Kwak’wala name Puglaas, is a Canadian lawyer, author, and former politician who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for the British Columbia (BC) ri ...
, politician
See also
*
''Kwakiutl'' (statue)
* ''
In the Land of the Head Hunters
''In the Land of the Head Hunters'' (also called ''In the Land of the War Canoes'') is a 1914 silent film fictionalizing the world of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples of the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, ...
''
*
Sisiutl
The sisiutl is a legendary creature found in many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, notably the Kwakwakaʼwakw. Typically, it is depicted as a double-headed sea serpent. Sometimes, the symbol features an addition ...
* ''
Dances of the Kwakiutl''
* ''
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
''I Heard the Owl Call My Name'' is a best-selling 1967 novel by Margaret Craven. The book tells the story of a young Anglican priest named Mark Brian who, unbeknownst to him, has not long to live. He learns about the meaning of life when he i ...
''
Notes
References
* ''Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch'' Aldona Jonaitis (Editor) U. Washington Press 1991'' (also a publication of the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
)
* ''Bancroft-Hunt, Norman. People of the Totem: The Indians of the Pacific Northwest'' University of Oklahoma Press, 1988
* ''Boas, Contributions to the Ethnology of the Kwakiutl, Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology'', vol. 3, New York: Columbia University Press, 1925.
* ''Fisher, Robin. Contact and Conflict: Indian-European Relations in British Columbia'', 1774–1890, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1977.
* ''Goldman, Irving. The Mouth of Heaven: an Introduction to Kwakiutl Religious Thought'', New York: Joh Wiley and Sons, 1975.
* ''
Hawthorn, Audrey. Kwakiutl Art.'' University of Washington Press. 1988. .
* ''Jonaitis, Aldona. Chiefly Feasts: the Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch'', Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991.
* ''Masco, Joseph. "It is a Strict Law that Bids Us Dance"'': Cosmologies, Colonialism, Death, and Ritual Authority in the Kwakwakaʼwakw Potlatch, 1849 to 1922, San Diego: University of California.
* ''Reid, Martine and Daisy Sewid-Smith. Paddling to Where I Stand'', Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004.
* ''Spradley, James. Guests Never Leave Hungry, New Haven'': Yale University Press, 1969.
* ''Umista Cultural Society''. Creation myth of Kwakwakaʼwakw (December 1, 2007).
* ''Walens, Stanley "Review of the Mouth of Heaven by Irving Goldman,"'' American Anthropologist, 1981.
* ''Wilson, Duff. The Indian History of British Columbia'', 38–40; Sessional Papers, 1873–1880.
External links
Uʼmista Cultural Society – Alert Bay
{{Authority control
First Nations in British Columbia