Kwakiutl

The Kwakiutl, whose own name Kwakwaka'wakw means the Kwak'wala-speaking peoples, are a Wakashan nation of the northern end of Vancouver Island, the Discovery Islands and the inlets of the neighbouring British Columbia mainland. Kwakiutl properly names only the Kwagu'ł community of Fort Rupert, but the anthropologist Franz Boas made it the label for all the Kwak'wala-speaking nations.

They built cedar plank houses with crest totem poles at the door, carved transformation masks and hammered named copper plates whose value was counted in wool blankets. Rank was proven by giving wealth away at the potlatch, where rival chiefs bid against each other for coppers, and the four-day Klasila festival of song and dance opened the winter ceremonial season.

Their oral histories tell of ancestors who arrived as Thunderbirds, orcas and grizzlies before taking human form. Captain George Vancouver made the first recorded European contact in 1792.