72 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL 



relation, call this village Neivity,^ which misleads Irviug, who, with Franchere before 

 him, the only place where Lamanse's narrative is given, loosely styles the harbour where 

 the"Tonquin" anchored, iVeit'ee^ee. Now, on all this island, there is not, and never has 

 been, a place called by any people the ' Harbour of Neweetee.' " 



The Nawitti tribes have been singularly unfortunate since the advent of the whites. 

 Their village, probably that above referred to. and named " Newittee " by Bancroft, was 

 destroyed by H. M. S. "Dœdalus" in 1850, and in the following summer H. M. S. 

 "Daphne" attacked the same village, which had meantime been rebuilt, killing a number 

 of the people. These retaliatory measures were undertaken by order of G-overnor 

 Blanchard, in consequence of the murder of some seamen, for which the Indians are not 

 clearly known to have been directly responsible.^ Dr. J. W. Powell, of Victoria, further 

 states that the tribes now living together at Mel'-oopa were, " some years ago," nearly 

 all killed in a raid made upon them by the Bella-Bella.^ I do not know the precise date 

 of this occurrence or any particulars respecting it. 



(12) Kw'i'-ki-ool, WilUs-kw't-ki-ool, Kwl-ha (Kwâw-keoolth, Wâwlis-kwâw-keoolth, Kwê- 

 ah-kah). — These tribes or septs now together inhabit Beaver Harbour, their village 

 surrounding Fort Rupert, and being named Sâ-kish. Though Indian villages had previously 

 existed in Beaver Harbour, the present one has been occupied only since the founding of 

 the fort in 1849. The three tribes above enumerated are very closely connected, and 

 together are generally referred to as the Kwakiools, the same name having been adopted 

 for ethuogical purposes for the whole people described in these notes. The prefix vj'dis, 

 of the name of the second sept, signifies " large " or " great." 



It is difficult to trace the former movements of the Fort Rupert people, as the tribes 

 above named appear to have lived together at certain seasons, or in villages not far 

 apart, from the earliest memory. The oldest known principal village was Kfi-loo-kwis 

 on Turnour Island, the Klfi-wit-sis tribe now inhabiting it, having moved there from 

 Klooitsis Island of the chart, a mile to the south, when the Fort Rupert tribes left. The 

 Fort Rupert people still speak of Kû-loo-kwis as their old home, and regard it with a 

 species of affection. This people, or a portion of them, also at one time had a village 

 named Klik-sl-wi, at the mouth of the river of the same name, all trace of which has now 

 disappeared. They are closely related to the Nîm'-kish and lived with them at the village 

 named Whulk, at the mouth of the Nirapkish River,* and at ï-lîs (Alert Bay) during the 

 salmon fishing season. When this was past, they used to move over to villages at White 

 Beach (Nooh-ta-muh), on a small island between the north-west point of Harbledoun 

 Island and Swanson Island, and to a village named Tsai-te on Mound Island, the KwT-ha 

 exclusively inhabiting the last named It is related that the Wfilis-kwa-ki-ool and Kwl-ha 

 separated a long time ago, owing to a quarrel between two chiefs, one of whom was killed 



(13) Nlm'-kish (Nim'-keesh). — The people so named now live at I-lîs, Alert Bay, 

 Cormorant Island. The Rev. A. J. Hall, whose mission church and school is at Alert 

 Bay, writes the names of the tribe Num-kCs, and states that it is derived from Num-hyâ- 



■ Bancroft (ii. 155) quotes from an English translation of Franchere's Narrative, in which Nuv,hHy of the origi- 

 nal is variously rendered " Newity" and " Newitti." 



2 See History of British Columbia, by H. H. Brancroft, p. 274. 



'' Report of the Deputy Superintendent-General of Indian affairs, Ottawa, 1879, p. 113. 



* This village is named Cheslakee's Village by Vancouver in 1792. He represents it in a plate, and states 

 that at the time there were thirty-four houses. The number of people is estimated at 500. 



