About Us
The Gwa’sala and the ‘Nakwaxda’xw were two separate Nations closely related through ties of kinship and marriage until we were amalgamated in 1964.
We are often referred to as a Kwakwaka’wakw people who speak Nak’wala and Gwa’sala, and understand Kwak’wala the dialect of the Kwakiutl. Today we live on our reserve at Tsulquate in Port Hardy but before our relocation and amalgamation we lived in our traditional territories: the Gwa’sala at Smith Inlet and the ‘Nakwaxda’xw at Seymour Inlet and Blunden Harbour. The map shows the full extent of our traditional territory; an area of over one million hectares. From time immemorial, our people harvested food and resources and all the materials we required to support our culture from our land, forests and water. We lived simply off the resources of Smith and Seymour Inlet, fishing, hunting and trapping and working seasonally in the wage economy. There are specific ways to catch fish, hunt, and collect resources to ensure future abundance. These traditional skills are passed to the next generation by being out on the water and the land together exercising these skills. |
Our lands and water and the creatures that live there figure prominently in our history, social traditions, and ceremonies. Our homelands are central to who we are as a people. It is our culture.
Under the federal reserve system a traditional territory of 1,046,524 hectares was reduced to a reserve land base of 794.1 hectares. We retained Our social and spiritual practices and our rich ceremonial life was supported by such master craftsmen and artists as Chief George Walkus, Charley George Walkus, Willie Seaweed, Johnny Davis, Chief George (Pudlidakami) and Charlie George, Senior. Today their works and those of many other of our artists are prized by collectors and museums around the world. In spite of repressive Indian Act legislation that prohibited our dances and potlatches, we continued to participate in these cultural practices that define us as a people. We continue to do so. |