Yuquot | |
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Friendly Cove | |
Location | Nootka Island, British Columbia, Canada |
Coordinates | 49°36′N 126°37′W / 49.600°N 126.617°W |
Governing body | Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations |
Website | www.yuquot.ca/ |
Official name | Yuquot National Historic Site of Canada |
Designated | May 25, 1923 |
Reference no. | 54 |
Yuquot (/ˈjuːkwɔːt/), also known as Friendly Cove, is a small settlement of around six people—the Williams family of the Mowachaht band—plus two full-time lighthouse keepers, located on Nootka Island in Nootka Sound, just west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It was the summer home of Chief Maquinna and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht (Nuu-chah-nulth) people for generations, housing approximately 1,500 people in 20 traditional wooden longhouses. The name means "Wind comes from all directions" in Nuu-chah-nulth.
The community is located within the Strathcona Regional District but like all Indian Reserve communities is not governed by nor represented in the regional district. The Mowchaht/Muchalaht First Nations are rather part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, which unites the governments of the indigenous communities of the Island's West Coast.
The Canadian government declared Friendly Cove a National Historic Site in 1923, with recognition of the significance of the Spanish colonial settlement that was once there and First Nations history following in 1997.