Our Land: In the Beginning
Creation
The Kwakiutl Chiefs were discussing the creation of their ancestors while waiting for the second course at a feast given by one of the chiefs at Tsaxis. At first no one spoke for a while. Then Malid spoke, saying, “It is the Sun, our chief, who created our ancestors of all the tribes. And when the others asked him how this was possible, for the Sun never made even one man, the chief was silent. Others said, It is Mink, Tlisalagi’lakw, who make our first ancestors. Then spoke Great-Inviter, saying, “Listen Kwakiutl, and let me speak a really true word. I see it altogether mistaken what the others say, for it was the Seagull who first became man by taking off his mask and turning into a man. This was the beginning of one of the groups of our tribe. And the others were caused when the Sun, and Grizzly Bear, and Thunderbird also took off their masks. That is the reason that we Kwakiutl are many groups, for each group had its own original ancestor.”
A chief visiting from Nawitti disagreed, and the Kwakiutl of all four groups became angry. For the Nawitti believe that the Transformer (or Creator) went about creating the first ancestors of all the tribes from people who already existed. But the chiefs of the Kwakiutl scoffed at this, saying, “Do not say that the Transformer was the creator of all the tribes. Indeed, he just came and did mischief to men, when he made him into raccoon, and land otter, and deer, for he only transformed them into animals. We of the Kwakiutl know that our ancestors were the Seagull, Sun, Grizzly Bear, and Thunderbird.
Organization
The Kwakwaka’wakw inhabited many different villages, separate units called tribes. These tribes are further divided into groups called ‘na’mima meaning “of one kind”, individuals belonging to a single ‘na’mima are call ‘na‘mimut or ‘na’mima fellows. These were the ultimate units binding its members together by strict social obligations. Individuals were ranked within the ‘na’mima, consisting of the head chief, a direct descendent of the founding ancestor, lesser chiefs, commoners and their families. Head chiefs are responsible for the conservation and management of the resources in his ‘na’mima’s territory, in return he receives a share of the goods harvested. Not only were the positions within a ‘na’mima ranked but each ‘na’mima had a ranking within the tribe.
Kwakiutl is very old name, Boas was told it meant “smoke of the world’ but he believed that it meant “beach at the north side of the river’. The four tribes, which collectively made up the Kwakiutl were the Kwakiutl, the K’umk’utis, the Kwixa and the Walas Kwakiutl.
In 1953 Wilson Duff recorded various sites utilized by Kwakwaka’wakw tribes. His informant was Mungo Martin, a well-known carver, singer and historian from Fort Rupert. Among the tribes recorded were the Kwakiutl, K’umk’utis, Kwaixa and Walas Kwakiutl. Mungo states that the Kwakiutl lived at Kalugwis before 1849. When they moved to Fort Rupert the village site was occupied by the Lawit’sis. The Kwakiutl proper were descended from an old Kwakiutl tribe that split because of a dispute. A warrior named Yakodlas murdered Chief ‘Makwala (or T’tak’wagila) and his faction became the Kwaixa or “murderers”, the others became known as the Kwixamut, “fellows of the Kwixa” but they kept the Kwakiutl name. Both factions also took on other names to glorify their status. The Kwakiutl were the Gweetala or “northern people” and the Kwixa were K’umuyoyi or “the rich ones”. The K’umk’utis, were descended from a small tribe that lived at Robson Bight called the Tlitlekit, who later amalgamated with the Walas Kwakiutl, formerly the Lakwi’lala, in 1885. According to Mungo the Kwixa lived at Mound Island but Boas recorded the Kwixa living with a small group of Walas Kwakiutl at K’abilis, the remainder of the Walas Kwakiutl lived at Adap’e on Turnour Island.
Among the Kwakwaka’wakw the Kwakiutl are the only tribes covered by treaties. In 1850 the Kwixa and Kwakiutl worked out agreements with the HBC commonly known as the Douglas Treaties. The treaty allotted them eight reserves. Most were located in and around Beaver Harbour with two more at the mouth of Keogh River and the mouth of the Cluxewe River and the final one a larger timber reserve on Malcolm Island.
Today the Kwakiutl First Nation still have the eight reserves on 295 hectares of land and is a thriving community actively pursuing Land Claims and maintaining Kwakwaka’wakw culture through potlatches and feasts. In 1988 construction began on their Gukwdzi. The design consists of a Sisiytl and Frog, common crests within the Kwakiutl Nation. Their Band Office called U’gwamalis and was constructed in 1991 followed by the day care centre in 1999. The Daycare Center opened in 2000 and includes a Cultural component and a hot lunch program. The Kwakiutl are a nation that is alive and prospering, far from the dying race they were thought to be at the beginning of the last century.
