2018, theorca.ca/resident-pod/the-forgotten-treaty-making-of-chief-maquinna/.ġ1. The Forgotten Treaty-Making of Chief Maquinna. Maritime Museum of British Columbia, 10. Marshall, Daniel. Makuk: a New History of Aboriginal-White Relations. Village of Tahsis, /recreation-culture-community/history/.Ĩ. Lutz, John Sutton. Contact and Conflict - Indian-European Relations in British Columbia, 1774-1890. Open Textbook Project, opentextbc.ca/preconfederation/chapter/13-3-fur-trade-and-empires/.ģ. Dewhirst, John.

“Fur Trade and Empires.” Canadian History: Pre-Confederation, B.C. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2. Belshaw, John Douglas. And though Maquinna and the Mowachaht had benefited greatly from this new economy, this new power also brought tumult and warfare with neighbouring tribes as an emboldened Maquinna tried to widen his territory.ġ. Arima, E.Y. Unsustainable hunting had decimated Nootka Sound’s otter population in only a few decades. Soon after, the local fur trade had ended and moved further along the coast. Neither Britain nor Spain could claim exclusive sovereignty to the area nor establish permanent buildings - a commitment Britain would later break. According to the Nootka Conventions, Nootka Sound was to remain open to all nations. Maquinna, who over time learned both English and Spanish, is believed to have played an important pacifying role in the dispute. The so-called Nootka Crisis, a conflict involving Spain, Britain and the United States, nearly resulted in a war, but the powers eventually settled their differences. In 1789, the Spanish even built a small, short-lived settlement at Yuquot called Santa Cruz de Nuca. The Spanish Empire had claimed all of the West Coast for themselves, as well as jurisdiction over the burgeoning otter fur trade. It didn’t take long before Spain and Britain found themselves in conflict over who controlled this resource-rich land. The sea-otter fur amassed there was traded for European goods, like tools and guns, and then sailed to China, where merchants paid an exorbitant price for the coveted pelts. It remained so for the rest of the century. As Cook put it, the Mowachaht “considered the place as entirely their property, without fearing any superiority.”įollowing Cook’s visit, Yuquot became the centre of European trade on the northwest coast of North America. Britain had instructed the explorer to claim lands he discovered whenever “convenient” and “with the consent of the natives.” However, in the case of Yuquot and the surrounding territory, he never did. At one point, when his men began cutting grass, they were told ‘makook,’ meaning ‘let’s trade.’ “I have nowhere met with any uncivilized nation, or tribe, who had such strict notions of their having a right to the exclusive property of everything that their country produces,” Cook later wrote in his journal. Cook also appeared to be struck by the Nuu-chah-nulth’s approach to material goods. While affable, Maquinna was an astute negotiator, shrewder than those Cook had bartered with in Hawaii. And it appears Cook was impressed by the welcome Maquinna offered. For the newcomers, he was the person to talk to. This authority gave Maquinna exclusive control over fur-trapping. He was responsible for overseeing the distribution of ‘hoopukunum,’ a term similar to the concept of Crown land. Maquinna was already an influential leader by the time Cook met him, a status he maintained and grew through generous potlatches, like other coastal chiefs. Chief Maquinna, meanwhile, went on to become one of the most powerful men in the Pacific Northwest. It kicked off Britain’s maritime fur trade and helped secure the Empire a foothold in the region. But Cook’s meeting with the Mowachaht, specifically Chief Maquinna, went far beyond a brief exchange of goods. Four years before, Spanish explorer Juan Perez had met and traded with both the Haida and the Nuu-chah-nulth. This was only the second documented encounter between Europeans and the Indigenous peoples in what is now British Columbia. He called them Nootka, a misnomer that stuck. But Cook must have misunderstood the name of his hosts. The Mowachaht - now amalgamated with their close relatives, the Muchalaht - are a member nation of the Nuu-chah-nulth. After a long journey from Hawaii, Cook was in search of a sheltered bay to repair his ships when the Mowachaht rowed out to greet him. The word means “where the winds blow from many directions.” That’s where the Mowachaht and their leader, Chief Maquinna, met British explorer James Cook in 1778.

In the summer, the Mowachaht often stayed on Nootka Island - just off the west coast of Vancouver Island - in a village called Yuquot.

Nootka tribe history