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🧑‍🎨 An Indigenous person 🗣️ A native language
Kwakiutl

Kwakiutl

1 9.9
A member of a Native people who live on northern Vancouver Island in Canada
  • noun
  • /kwɑːˈkiːʊtəl/
: Kwakiutl
  • Now the privilege of presenting the dance about this legendary hero and his undersea adventures is claimed by just a few Kwakiutl belonging to a small number of related families.

She says among the Kwakiutl, it did not matter whether a relative had died in bed of disease or the hand of an enemy.

Examples

  • Such evasions depended upon the solidarity of the Kwakiutl.

    Academic text (1991)

  • For whatever reason, the Kwakiutl stood out as inveterate potlatchers.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Unable to secure even an investigation, the Kwakiutl fell back upon their own.

    Academic text (1991)

  • How the Kwakiutl kept the faith

    Academic text (1991)

  • This was not true of the Kwakiutl, however.

    Academic text (1991)

  • During the preparation of the exhibition, an effort was made to inform the Kwakiutl of the Museum's plans and to benefit from their advice.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Christianity was taking stronger root among the Kwakiutl, and young people were losing interest in long rituals and arranged marriages.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Although at the time the Kwakiutl were resisting a Canadian law prohibiting the potlatch, Boas predicted that the custom would eventually become extinct.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The antipotlatch law, and particularly the prosecutions and imprisonments of the 1920s, remain indelible in the memory of the Kwakiutl, symbols of persecution of their identity and way of life.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The Kwakiutl are known for their rich cultural traditions and vibrant artwork.

Synonyms

Wakashan
vsKwakiutl
9.9

A person from an indigenous group in British Columbia and Washington State who speaks or spoke Wakashan languages

is the narrower local group living around Queen Charlotte Sound and northern Vancouver Island

Compounds

Kwakiutl language
1 9.9

A native language spoken by the Kwakiutl people on the west coast of Canada

Surface Forms

Kwakiutl singular
Kwakiutls plural

Etymology

Kwakiutl is an English form of a name from the local Kwak'wala language. Early visitors used it to refer to the people who live on northern Vancouver Island, so the word now means that Indigenous group.