Kwaguʼł

Kwagu'ł woman wearing a fringedChilkatblanket (worn backwards), a hamatsa neckring and mask representing a deceased relative who had been a shaman. Photograph byEdward S. Curtisc. 1883.

Kwaguʼłare aKwakwakaʼwakwtribe of theIndigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coastfrom centralBritish Columbia,on northernVancouver Island.Their main community is calledTsax̱isorFort Rupert.The ancestral language isKwakʼwala,a language that is a part of theWakashanlanguage group. In their language, Kwaguʼł translates toSmoke-Around-the-Worldreferring to the smoke that exited from the many bighouses in their villages.

Theband governmentof the Kwaguʼł is theKwakiutl First Nation.The anglicization "Kwakiutl"and other forms of this group's name was for a long time used to describe all the Kwakwakaʼwakw peoples, but properly refers only to this group.The term "Kwakiutl" is also used by theLaich-kwil-tachor Lekwiltok (Euclataws or Yucultas, historically) who migrated from the vicinity of what would become Fort Rupert to what is nowthe City of Campbell Riverand adjoining islands at the start of the 19th century; they identify as the Southern Kwakiutl.

Notable members

• ArtistMungo Martinand his descendants, many of whom are also prominent artists.
• Tony Hunt,chief of the Kwaguʼł and a carver/sculptor
• Hawinipologwa or Qualicum Annieas she is better known as, was Walas Kwagulh, and she likely carried the killer whale crest.

References

• Johan Adrian Jacobsen:Alaskan Voyage, 1881-1883: An Expedition to the Northwest Coast of America,University of Chicago Press; Auflage: Reprint (April 1983),ISBN978-0-226-39033-8

External links

• U'mista Cultural Society