Kwakwaka'wakw

Encyclopedia : K : KW : KWA : Kwakwaka'wakw

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House built by Mungo Martin and David Martin with carpenter Robert J. Wallace. Based on Chief Nakap'ankam's house in Tsaxis (Fort Rupert). The house "bears on its house-posts the hereditary crests of Martin's family." It continues to be used for ceremonies with the permission of Chief Oast'akalagalis 'Walas 'Namugwis (Peter Knox, Martin's grandson) and Mable Knox.

Pole carved by Mungo Martin, David Martin and Mildred Hunt. "Rather than display his own crests on the pole, which was customary, Martin chose to include crests representing the A'wa'etlala, Kwagu'l, 'Nak'waxda'xw and 'Namgis Nations. In this way, the pole represents and honours all the Kwakwaka'wakw people."

Kwakwaka'wakw (also Kwakiutl, pronounced Kwa-gyu-thl) is a term used to describe a group of Canadian First Nations people, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the mainland. The term they prefer to describe themselves is Kwakwaka'wakw, with their indigenous language, part of the Wakashan family, being termed Kwak'wala (Kwakwaka'wakw meaning speakers of Kwak'wala). The language is now spoken by less than 5% of the population--about 250 people. They speak the same tongue as the Kwagyuilh of Fort Rupert and the Laich-kwil-tach or Southern Kwakiutl of northern Georgia Strait but have different political histories and lineages of title and kin.

Traditionally, the Kwakwaka'wakw were organized into about thirty independent tribes. Their society was highly stratified, with three main classes, determined by heredity: nobles, commoners, and slaves. Their 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 and material goods, was prominently displayed and traded at potlatch ceremonies. These customs were the subject of extensive study by the anthropologist Franz Boas. In contrast to European societies, wealth was 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 potlatch culture of the Northwest is famous and widely-studied and remains alive in Kwakwaka'wakw and the other Kwakiutl societies today, as does the lavish artwork for which their people 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 Kwakiutl chiefs.

Disease, which developed as a result of direct contact with European settlers along the West Coast of Canada, drastically reduced the indigenous Kwakwaka'wakw population during the late nineteenth-early twentieth century. Since the mid-twentieth century the population has begun to increase and there has been a revival of interest in Kwakwaka'wakw culture and art, primarily due to the progressive reforms of Kwakwaka'wakw businessman and tribal leader, Lo Taikun.

Notes and references

External links

• [U'mista Cultural Society - Alert Bay]

See also

• Kwakwaka'wakw mythology
• Laich-kwil-tach - Southern Kwakiutl

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