Gwawaenuk

Traditional Gwawaenuk territory and their main reserves

Gwawa'enux or Hope Town , officially Gwawaenuk Tribe , is an Indian tribe native to the Canadian province of British Columbia . They live across from Port Hardy (on Vancouver Island ) on the east side of Johnstone Strait . Their language is Kwak'wala.

They belong to the northern Kwakwaka'wakw and together with two other tribes, the Kwicksutaineuk and the Tsawataineuk, form the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council .

history

The former residential area of ​​the Gwawaenuk was on the northern tip of Vancouver Island . By 1850 they lived in the neighborhood of the Kwakiutl and other Kwak'wala speaking tribes on Watson Island. Archaeological investigations are currently not planned, although the various clam mounds have probably already been approached by looters, such as in Jennis Bay and Drury Inlet.

Reservations

Since 1916 they have lived mainly in the Hopetown 10a reservation (2.4 hectares) on the south coast of Watson Island, Grappler Sound, in the Coast District. Her ten reservations cover a total of 206 hectares and are located on Wells Passage to the north of Queen Charlotte Strait . Kunstamis 2 and 2a (7 and 39.2 ha) are located on the north shore of Claydon Bay on Grappler Sound. There is also the Lawanth 5 reserve (5.7 ha), which is located on the Embley Lagoon. Around the Crappler Sound are also Magwekstala 10 (3.8 ha), which is on the east side of Burley Bay of the Hopetown Passage, south of Watson Island. Hopetown 10a (2.4 hectares) is located on the south side of this island. At the east end of Mackenzie Sound is Keogh 3 (4.3 hectares), where Quay 4 (4 hectares) is also, but at the north end of Nimmo Bay. The comparatively large reserve Kadis 11 (128.6 hectares) includes Dickson Island and the west of Broughton Island. There is also Dove Island 12 (8.1 ha), which includes the island of the same name and is located at the entrance of the Actress Pass on Drury Inlet. At Drury Inlet there is also Gleyka 6 (3.2 hectares), more precisely on the east coast of Actaeon Sound.

Of the 39 tribesmen, 18 lived on their own reservation in July 2009, plus 21 members who lived outside of reservations.

Current situation

The food supply, which until a few decades ago came directly from the surrounding area, is no longer possible due to algae migration, but above all because of the damage from fish farms and factories. In 2003 there were around 30 fish farms on the Broughton Archipelago alone. Nowhere in western Canada is the concentration of fish farms as great as here. The nearest fish farms are just a few kilometers away at Mt. Simmonds Bay and Wehlis Bay. In 2002 the salmon populations (especially the pink salmon) collapsed, and since then there have been no more salmon migrations, which in turn starves the bear population and has further ecological consequences. Especially Heritage Salmon Limited and Stolt Sea Farm Inc. stand out here. The latter is an offshoot of a former Norwegian, now Luxembourg company. In 2000 it was estimated to be 3.6 million salmon, two years later there were barely 150,000 - Pink Salmons only move here every two years.

In 2003, the Indians turned to the British Columbia Supreme Court with the help of the Sierra Legal Defense Fund . To do this, they teamed up with the Tsawataineuk , Namgis and Kwicksutaineuk bands, which are also affected.

Against the background of these and other experiences, four tribes have refused to participate in the state Central Coast Land and Resource Management Plan since 2005 , among them the Gwawaenuk.

After all, in 2006 the tribe received almost CAD 20,000 for the establishment of a language and culture school. On March 8, 2007, another CAD 104,483 followed for social and infrastructure measures.

The traditional chief is Charlie Williams.

In spite of the decades of clear-cutting, forests are still an important economic factor. Hence the tribe founded the Kwa-wa-aineuk Timber Development Enterprises . She sets up joint ventures and negotiates with other timber companies.

literature

• Leland Donald, Donald H. Mitchell: Some Correlates of Local Group Rank Among the Southern Kwakiutl. In: Ethnology 14/4, 1975, pp. 325-334

See also

• First Nations history
• History of British Columbia
• List of Indian tribes recognized in Canada

Remarks

1. ↑ A map of the tribal areas around 1850 can be found here: [1] .
2. ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles: Gwawaenuk Tribe ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
3. ↑ Map of the fish farms: [2] .
4. ↑ The latter make certain efforts to implement stricter environmental requirements. In 2004 the company was certified according to ISO 14001 (2004) for environmental management. The former have apparently not got beyond general statements on environmental compatibility.
5. ↑ Article in the New York Times of September 14, 2003: [3] .
6. ↑ The declaration of November 1, 2005: Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
7. ↑ According to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada: Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .