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The Nuu-chah-nulth (pronounced , or approximately "noo-cha-nulth") {Link without Title} (also formerly referred to as the '''Nootka''', '''Nutka''', '''Aht''', '''Nuuchahnulth''') people are Indigenous peoples in Canada . The term 'Nuu-chah-nulth' is used to describe 15 separate but related nations whose traditional home is in the Pacific Northwest on the west coast of Vancouver Island . In pre-contact and early post-contact times, the number of nations was much greater, but smallpox and other consequences of contact resulted in the disappearance of some groups, and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. The Nuu-chah-nulth are related to the Chinookan and Kwakwaka'wakw , and the Nuu-chah-nulth Language is part of the Wakashan language group. HISTORY At the time of early contact with European explorers, up until 1830 , more than 90 percent of the Nuu-chah-nulth were killed by Sexually Transmitted Disease s, Malaria , and Smallpox , and by cultural turmoil resulting from contact with Westerners. Pre-contact First contact When of Washington State are directly related to the Nuu-chah-nulth. The Nuu-chah-nulth were among the first Pacific peoples north of California to come into contact with Europe ans. Competition between Spain and the United Kingdom over control of Nootka Sound led to a bitter international dispute around 1790 , which was Settled when Spain agreed to abandon its exclusive claims to the North Pacific coast. Negotiations to settle the dispute were handled under the hospitality of a powerful chief of the Mowachaht Nuu-chah-nulth of Nootka Sound, Maquinna . Colonization Residential School See Also: Residential School Post-colonization TRIBES Below is the tribes that make up the Nuu-chah-nulth. After contact, the advent of foreign diseases spread and decimated some tribes, and others merged with neighboring tribes.
CULTURE AND SOCIETY The Nuu-chah-nulth were one of the few groups on the Pacific Coast who hunted Whale s. Whaling is essential to Nuu-chah-nulth culture and spirituality, and is reflected in stories, songs, names, family lines, and numerous place names throughout the Nuu-chah-nulth territores. Perhaps the most famous Nuu-chah-nulth artifact is the Yuquot "whaler's shrine", a ritual house-like structure used in the spiritual preparations for whale hunts. Composed of a series of memorial posts depicting spirit figures and the bones of whaling ancestors, it is presently in storage at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It was the subject of a film, ''The Washing of Tears'' which recounts the rediscovery of the bones and other artifacts at the museum, and the travails of the Mowachaht people, the shrine's original owners, in seeking to repossess them. Language See Also: Nuu-chah-nulth language Potlatch See Also: Potlatch The Nuu-chah-nulth, and other Pacific Northwest cultures, were famous for their Potlatch ceremonies, in which the host would honor guests with generous gifts. The term 'potlatch' is ultimately a word of Nuu-chah-nulth origin.12 Art See Also: Nuu-chah-nulth art Music War MYTHOLOGY See Also: Nuu-chah-nulth mythology A book by Anne Cameron, ''The Daughters of Copper Woman'', addresses many of the creation myths of the Nuu-chah-nulth, as well as modern implications of colonization. FOOD SEE ALSO REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY
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