Nuu-chah-nulth People - History

History

When James Cook first encountered the villagers at Yuquot in 1778, they directed him to "come around" (Nuu-chah-nulth nuutkaa is "to circle around") with his ship to the harbour. Cook interpreted this as the native's name for the inlet—now called Nootka Sound—which came to be applied to the inhabitants of the area. In 1978 the term Nuu-chah-nulth (nuučaan̓uł, meaning "all along the mountains") was chosen as a collective term to describe the closely related nations of western Vancouver Island. This was the culmination of the 1967 alliance forged between the various nations in order to present a unified political voice. The Makah of Washington are closely related to the Nuu-chah-nulth.

The Nuu-chah-nulth were among the first Pacific peoples north of California to come into contact with Europeans. Competition between Spain and the United Kingdom over control of Nootka Sound led to a bitter international dispute around 1790, called the Nootka Crisis, which was settled with the Nootka Conventions of the 1790s, when Spain agreed to abandon its exclusive claims to the North Pacific coast. Negotiations to settle the dispute were handled under the hospitality of a powerful chief of the Mowachaht Nuu-chah-nulth of Nootka Sound, Maquinna.

Maquinna captured the American trading ship Boston in March 1803, and he and his men killed the captain and all the crew, sparing only two, whom they kept as slaves. John R. Jewitt wrote a classic tale of captivity about his years with them and his reluctant integration into their society. This book is entitled Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt, only survivor of the crew of the ship Boston, during a captivity of nearly three years among the savages of Nootka Sound: with an account of the manners, mode of living, and religious opinions of the natives. It is a useful source of historical information on many aspects of daily life, including the hunting and preparing of food, the making of clothing and implements, the fashions of hairdos and body decoration, the system of government and punishments, canoes, warfare, spiritual beliefs.

In 1811 the trading ship Tonquin was blown up in Clayoquot Sound when its efforts to trade were turned into an attack by Nuu-chah-nulth in revenge for an insult by the ship's captain. The sole surviving crew member, after the rest were killed, set fire to the ship's magazine in order to destroy the ship. Many natives were killed, and only one crew member survived to tell the tale.

At the time of early contact with European explorers up until 1830, more than 90% of the Nuu-chah-nulth were killed by malaria, and smallpox, and by cultural turmoil resulting from contact with Westerners.