British Columbia First Nations

History

  

Brief History of the Kwakiutl

     The Kwakiutl people were a group of loosely knit but culturally related tribes. They lived on northern Vancouver Island, stretching along both sides of Queen Charlotte sound.
     The Kwakiutl were strict about how property and rank were passed down.  The more northern people passed it through the mother.  The southern people passed it through the daughter's husband to the grandchild.

    First contact with Europeans may have been as early as 1640.  Certainly they had contact with sailing expeditions in 1775.  Subsequent contact with ships, overland explorers and traders became more frequent. When the Hudson Bay Company established a post at Victoria there was a major impact on all peoples in the area.
       In more recent times, two groups became distinct from the main group – the Komoyue and Matilpe – and were enumerated separately by the Canadian government.
      As with other tribes in the area, European diseases took a heavy toll on the population even before first contact. Population estimates before first contact are unreliable. There were 1,257 in 1906.  The Canadian government reported 2,090 in 1909.  In 1924, the population was under 2000.

Tribes and Bands (First Nations) of British Columbia

Map depicting general distribution of tribes in British Columbia can be found at British Columbia Ministry of Education

Important Web Sites

List of Indian Tribes in British Columbia and other locations in Canada and the United States, from the University of British Columbia Library.

A timeline of historic events is located at British Columbia History

Records

The "Ahousat" Indians Reserve located on Flores Island off the West Coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.  Record contains some birth, marriage and death records. FHL Film: 924503

 

References

Bibliography

Jenness, Diamond. Indians of Canada. National Museum of Canada, Bulletin 65, Anthropological Series No. 15

Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)