The hunters not only made and repaired equipment, but also performed elaborate ceremonies and rituals. Because this dangerous work required skill, preparations began months before the actual hunt began. Skilled fishermen, the Nootka used a variety of traps, nets and tools but only chiefs and some selected commoners could hunt the California grey and humpback whales. The Nootka held strongly to the concept of group ownership over individual ownership, with his tribe collecting berries, fish, and game on the property controlled by the tribe and giving whatever they gathered to Maquinna who then gave back most of what had been collected - including food - and thereby made the resources owned by one, but shared by all. With the Nootkan lifestyle revolving around such seasonal marine resources, Maquinna had to make certain that he controlled property rights and resources in widely spaced areas, and this he ensured by making astute marriage alliances to cement loyalties. By late December they were back out onto the coast to take advantage of the herring runs, and by the end of February were returning once again to Yuquot. When rain curtailed such activities the time came for feasting and for celebrations. Toward mid-November the families moved again, to Tahsis, their winter home, where they hunted deer and bear, and fished the rivers. These they smoked and dried for winter food, but they also gathered a variety of edible roots, and formed ripened berries into dried cakes. In late August, when the rains began, the Nootkans left Yuquot and moved from the outer coast into the nearby inlets and rivers to catch the salmon heading upstream to spawn. The women gathered shellfish and herring eggs from spruce boughs placed in the water, and picked the wild berries.

They moved for instance to Yuquot (Friendly Cove) each February for spring and summer because of an abundance of fish, water, birds, seals, whales and sea otters. The Nootka people changed locations with the seasons, and upon the availability of the fish, berries, wild spuds, medicine roots, or bark and straws for weaving.

When the tribe moved, the planks laid between canoes, became platforms on which to transport belongings and upon arrival at the new location these planks fit easily into pre-existing frames to make new dwellings in which to establish the home. Removable planks fixed to permanent frames formed large pre-fabricated Big Houses, with the planks of the sloping roofs easily removed to allow smoke to escape, or on pleasant days to allow light and air to enter. The various tribal groups lived along the beach in rows of large wooden houses, each with four to six families made up of direct descendants, together with a number of their relatives by marriage. Therefore, in order to keep his tribe strong, the Chief had to win the respect, loyalty and support of the people below him. Mobility within the kinship saw people move from house to house or even from village to village, and commoners with relatives within a household could claim residence within that household, or if they so chose, could go to live elsewhere. Members of every household accepted rank according to their relationship to the Chief, and the Chiefs ranked from highest to lowest with Maquinna as the highest ranking Chief in the highest ranking lineage group of his community. The slaves being people captured during battles with other tribes, and normally being people owned only by a Chief. Nootkan villages consisted of three groups: chiefs, commoners and slaves. History names Maquinna as the Nootkan Chief who met James Cook, but for generations the highest-ranking chief of the Mowachaht people bore that title, or name, “Maquinna”, a man with special rights and privileges, one holding the highest place in Mowachaht society.

These studies prove that Nootkan peoples had certainly inhabited the area long before the arrival of the first Europeans.Ī Nootka community consisted of several distinct tribal groups, each one claiming direct descent from a known ancestor. In 1992 Yvonne Marshall, then of Simon Fraser University, enumerated 177 archaeological sites throughout Nootka Sound. Evidence indicated that indigenous people had continuously inhabited the site for the last 4,300 years. In 1966 John Dewhirst and Bill Folan of Park’s Canada conducted the archaeological Yuquot Project at Friendly Cove. They were great whale hunters, pursuing them far out to sea in whaling canoes. They had a rich existence and culture based on whaling, river fishing, hunting and foraging. Mowachaht / Muchalaht First Nation’s History The first residents of Nootka Sound were the Mowachaht and Muchalaht peoples.

Nootka tribe history