BCLL. 30] 



WAKASHAN FAMILY 



895 



bia between lat. 64° and 502 30^ the n. and 

 w. parts of Vancouver id. , and the extreroe 

 N. \v. corner of Washington, nearly to 

 lat. 48° N. The name is derived from 

 waukash, 'good,' which Cook heard at 

 Friendly cove, Nootka sd., and supposed 

 to be the name of a tribe. The culture 

 of these people is almost identical with 

 that of the coast Salish to the s. and 

 E. of them, and with that of the Tsim- 

 shian, Haida, and Tlingit in the n. 

 In physical characteristics they rather 

 approach the coast Salish, and their 

 language conforms in type most closely 

 with that of the Salieh and Chimakuan. 

 Juan de Fuca probably reached the 

 coast of British Columbia and was the 

 first white man to see the lands of the 

 Wakashan. If Fuentea be not an imagi- 

 nary person, nor his voyage a fable, he 

 sailed in 1640 through the archipelago 

 where the Wakashan live. Ensign Juan 

 Perez is believed to have anchored in 

 Nootka sd. in 1774. In the following year 

 Bodega and Maurelle passed along the 

 Wakashan coast on their way s. In 1786 

 English vessels under Capts. Hanna, Port- 

 lock, and Dixon called at this coast, and 

 from that time visits of British and Ameri- 

 can trading vessels were constant, Nootka 

 in particular being much frequented. 

 Between 1792 and 1794 Capt. George Van- 

 couver visited the country. In 1803 the 

 Boston, of Boston Mass., was destroyed 

 by the people of Nootka, and all on board 

 except two persons were killed. From 

 the account of one of these, John R. Jew- 

 itt, we have important information re- 

 garding the tribes of the w. coast of Van- 

 couver id. The Hudson's Bay Co. estab- 

 lished a post at Victoria in 1843, and 

 from that time relations with the natives 

 became more intimate. Since then the 

 native population has pretty steadily de- 

 clined. Mission stations have been estab- 

 lished at many points with considerable 

 success in thex., but half of the southern 

 Kwakiutl still hold to their ancient cus- 

 toms and beliefs. Most of the Nootka 

 have been converted by Roman Catholic 

 missionaries. Wakashan dwellings were 

 large structures of huge cedar beams and 

 planks, and stood in a row fronting the 

 sea. Each accommodated several fami- 

 lies which had separate fires. The canoe 

 was one of the essentials of existence on 

 these shores, where there Mere no better 

 seamen than the tribes of the w. coast of 

 Vancouver id. These and a few of the 

 neighboring tribes in Washington were 

 the only people who pursued and killed 

 the whale, others being content to wait 

 until the animals drifted ashore dead. 

 For the rest of their diet they depended 

 mainly upon fish, but they also hunted 

 land and sea animals and collected shell- 

 fish, roots, and berries, each family owning 



ita own fishing grounds and salmon creeks, 

 which it guarded jealously. Although 

 good carvers of wood, they were excelled 

 in this respect by the Haida and Tlingit. 

 The northern tribes, the Heiltsuk Kwa- 

 kiutl, reckoned descent in the female I'ne; 

 but the southern tribes, though in a tran- 

 sitional state, are rather to be reckoned 

 in the paternal stage. Intertribal warfare 

 was constant and slavery an institution. 

 Head flattening was practised consider- 

 ably by the tribes of Vancouver id. The 

 potlatch was one of the cardinal institu- 

 tions, and around it centered a large part 

 of the social and religious interests of the 

 people. Owing mainly to smallpox and 

 vices, the number of Wakashan has fallen 

 off steadily since their first contact with 

 whites. In 1909 there were enumerated 

 in the Dominion of Canada 4, 150, to which 

 are to be added 434 Makah in Washington; 

 total, 4,584. Of these 2,090 were Kwakiutl 

 and 2,494 Nootka. ( J. K,^, ) 



>Wakash. — Gallatin in Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc, 

 II, 15, 306, 1836 (of Nootka Sound; gives Jewitt'svo- 

 cab. ); Gallatin in Trans. Am. Ethnol. Soc, ii, pt. 

 1, 77, 1848 (based on Newittee); Berghaus (1851), 

 Physlk. Atlas, map 17, 1852; Gallatin in School- 

 craft, Ind. Tribes, m, 402, 1853 (includes Newit- 

 tee and Nootka Sound) ; Latham in Trans. Philol. 

 Soc. Lond., 73, 1856 (of Quadra and Vancouver's 

 id.); Latham, Opuscula, 340, 1860; Latham, EL 

 Comp. Philol., 403, 1862 (Tlaoquatsh and Wakash 

 proper; Nutka and congeners also referred here), 

 X Wakash.— Latham, Nat. Hist. Man., 301, 1850 

 (includes Naspatle, proper Nutkans, Tlaoquatsh, 

 Nittenat, Klasset, Klallems; the last named la 

 SallBhan). =Wakashan.— Powell in 7th Rep. B. 

 A. E., 128, 1891. XNootka-Columbian.— Scouler in 

 Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc, xi, 221, 1841 (includes Qua- 

 dra and Vancouver id., Haeeltzuk, Billechoola, 

 Tlaoquatch, Kawitcheu, Noosdalum, Squallya- 

 mish, Cheenooks); Prichard, Phys. Hist. Man- 

 kind, V, 435, 1847 (follows Scouler); Latham in 

 Jour. Ethnol. Soc. Lond., i, 162, 1848 (remarks on 

 Scouler's group of thisname); Latham, Opuscula, 

 267, 1860 (the same). <Nootka.— Hale in U. S. 

 Expl. Exped., VI, 220, 569, 1846 (proposes family 

 to include tribes of Vancouver id. and tribes on 

 south side of Fuca sir.). >Nutka. — Buschmann, 

 Neu-Mexico, 329, 1858. >Nootka.— Gatschet in 

 Mag. Am. Hist., 170, 1877 (mentions only Makah, 

 and Classet tribes of Cape Flattery); Gatschet 

 in Beach, Ind. Misc., 446, 1877. xNootkahs.— 

 Keane in Stanford, Compend., Cent, and So. 

 Am., 473, 1878 (includes Muchlahts, Nitinahts, 

 Ohyahts, Manosahts,and Quoquoulths of present 

 family, together wit h a number of Salishan tribes). 

 XNootka.— Bancroft, Nat. Races, iii, 564, 608, 1882 

 (a heterogeneous group, largely Salishan, with 

 Wakashan, Skittagetan, and other families repre- 

 sented). >Straits of Fuca. — Gallatin in Trans. 

 Am. Antiq. Soc, 11,134, 306, 1836 (vocabulary of, 

 referred here with doubt; considered distinct by 

 Gallatin). XSouthern. — Scouler in Jour. Roy. 

 Geog. Soc, XI, 224, 1841 (same as his Nootka-Col- 

 umbian above). Xinsular.— Scouler, ibid, (same 

 as his Nootka-Columbian above) . XHaeltzuk. — 

 Latham in Jour. Ethnol. Soc. Lond., i, 156, 1848 

 (cites Tolmie'svocab.: spoken from 60° 30' to -53° 

 30'); Latham, Opuscula, 2.51, 1860 (the same). 

 >Haeeltsuk and Eailtsa. — Latham , Nat. Hist. Man. , 

 300, 1850 (includes Hyshalla, Hyhysh, Esleytuk, 

 W^eekenoch, Nalatsenoch, Quagheuil,Tlatla-She- 

 quilla, Lequeeltoch) . >Hailtsa. — Latham in 

 Trans. Philol. Soc. Lond., 72, 1856; Buschmann, 

 Neu-Mexico, 322, 1858; Latham, Opuscula, 339, 1860; 

 Latham, El. Comp. Philol. , 401 , 1862 (includes coast 

 dialects between Hawkesbury id., Broughton's 

 archipelago, and northern part of Vancouver id.). 

 >Ha eelb zuk.— Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, v, 487, 



