|
|
Article: Kwakiutl
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of World Cultures
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Kwakiutl
ETHNONYMS: Kwagulth, Kwakiool, Kwawkewlth, Kwawkwakawakw, Southern Kwakiutl
Orientation
Identification.
"Kwakiutl" was initially and properly applied only to one local group, the Walas Kwakiutl of Queen Charlotte Strait, British Columbia, but was subsequently used by fur traders and others to designate the four groups (including the Walas Kwakiutl) that assembled at the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Rupert in the 1850s. By extension, missionaries, government officials, and ethnologists identified all speaking obviously related dialects and languages as "Kwakiutl." The word
Kwakiutl
is native and variously interpreted as "smoke of the world," "smoke from their fires," and ...