Xwémalhkwu

The Xwémalhkwu, or Homalco, belong to Bute Inlet, a long arm of the sea reaching deep between the Coast Mountains. Their country includes the Homathko and Southgate rivers at its head and the sheltered waters around its mouth. Winter villages stood at Aupe and on Sonora Island, while other settlements lay near Orford Bay and the rivers farther inland. Salmon returned to the streams of the inlet, and canoes carried people among the villages and islands of this rugged coast.