Nuu-chah-nulth

Nuu-chah-nulth
Nuučaan̓ułʔatḥ
Three Nuu-chah-nulth children in Yuquot, 1930s
Total population
In 2016 (4,310) people identified having Nuu-chah-nulth ancestry
Regions with significant populations
Canada (British Columbia)
Languages
Nuu-chah-nulth, English, French
Related ethnic groups
Kwakwaka'wakw, Makah; other Wakashan-speaking peoples

The Nuu-chah-nulth (/nˈɑːnʊlθ/ noo-CHAH-nuulth;[1] Nuučaan̓uł: [nuːt͡ʃaːnˀuɬʔatħ]),[2] also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht,[3] are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related tribes whose traditional home is on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

In precontact and early post-contact times, the number of tribes was much greater, but the smallpox epidemics and other consequences of contact with Europeans resulted in the disappearance of some groups and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. The Nuu-chah-nulth are related to the Kwakwaka'wakw, the Haisla, and the Ditidaht First Nation. The Nuu-chah-nulth language belongs to the Wakashan family.

The governing body is the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council.[4]

  1. ^ "Guide to Pronunciation of B.C. First Nations" (PDF). British Columbia Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  2. ^ "Nuučaan̓uł (Nuu-chah-nulth, Nootka)". Languagegeek. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  3. ^ Knipe, C. (1868). Some account of the Tahkaht language, as spoken by several tribes on the western coast of Vancouver Island. ISBN 9780665153891.
  4. ^ Reconciliation, Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and. "Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council - Province of British Columbia". www2.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-27.