Maquinna is the usual spelling of the name of the chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Nootka Sound, during the heyday of the maritime fur trade in the 1780s and 1790s on the Pacific Northwest Coast. His people are known as the Mowachaht and reside today with their kin, the Muchalaht, at Gold River, British Columbia. Nootka Sound is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean and a natural harbour on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. ... The British Columbia Coast is one of Canadas two continental coastlines, the other being the coastline from the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean via the Northwest Passage and Hudson Bay to the Ungava Peninsula and Labrador and the Gulf of St. ... Gold River is a village located close to the centre of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. ...

Maquinna was a powerful chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples whose village, Yuquot, was located in Nootka Sound, which became the first important anchorage in the imperial jockeying for power and commerce as the era of the maritime fur trade began. Yuquot became known as Friendly Cove, and after first hosting Captain James Cook in 1776, Imperial Spain was quick to assert its authority, sending north scientific and mapping ships, and also orders to establish a Spanish fort at Friendly Cove on Nootka Sound. Ensuing events saw the seizure of a British subject and his Austrian-registered vessel by the Spanish, which provoked an international episode known as the Nootka Crisis. The Nuu-chah-nulth (pronounced New-cha-nulth)(also Nootka, Nutka, Aht, West Coast, T’aat’aaqsapa, Nuuchahnulth) people are indigenous peoples of Canada. ... Captain James Cook may refer to: James Cook - British explorer, navigator, and map maker Captain James Cook (TV miniseries) - 1987 Australian television miniseries This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...

Maquinna played a key role in relations between Spanish envoy Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, and his British counterpart, Captain George Vancouver, who negotiated the settlement of the Nootka affair and enjoyed Maquinna's hospitality at length. It is worth noting that the title by which he is described, Hyas Tyee, which was to find its way into the vocabulary of the Chinook Jargon, is the same as that used for king (although it simply means important chief). Captain Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra, Marina real, circa 1785. ... Captain George Vancouver George Vancouver (June 22, 1757 – May 12, 1798) was an officer of the Royal Navy, and an explorer best known for his exploration of North America, including the Pacific coast along Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia; he also explored the southwest coast of Australia. ... Chinook Jargon was a trade language (or pidgin) of the Pacific Northwest, which spread quickly up the West Coast from Oregon State, through Washington State, British Columbia, and as far as Alaska. ...

One story tells how he and his brother, Callicum, performed a masquerade for Vancouver and Quadra in which the noble brothers acted out a pantomime of European dress and manners, improvising mock-Spanish and mock-English dialogue, all set in the customary style of the great potlatch theatre-dance culture of the Northwest Coast. Callicum was killed in war with the neighbouring Tla-o-qui-aht people of Clayoquot Sound, led by their Hyas Tyee, Wickanninish - another player in the politics of the fur trade era - who ultimately was killed by Maquinna. A potlatch is a ceremony among certain Native American/First Nations peoples on the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States and the Canadian province of British Columbia such as the Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Kwakiutl (Kwakwakawakw). ... First Nation Tla-o-qui-aht The Tla-o-qui-aht, formerly Clayoquot, are a First Nation of Canada band, living on ten reserves along the Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. ... Clayoquot Sound (usually pronounced clay-kwot or clack-kwot) is located on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. ...

Callicum's death and many other details of life in Maquinna's court are told in the writings of John R. Jewitt, one of two sole survivors of a British ship whose crew was massacred by Maquinna's men. His The Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt is one of the first published glimpses into the social and cultural life of the Pacific Northwest peoples on record. Darker red states are always part of the Pacific Northwest. ...

External links

• On-line original edition of The Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt]
• Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation Webpage
• First Contact Mowachaht Page

References

• First Approaches to the North West Coast, Derek Pethick, University of Washington Press, July 1977
• The Nootka Connection: The Northwest Coast, 1790-1795, Derek Pethick, University of Washington Press 1980
• British Columbia chronicle, 1788-1846: Adventures by sea and land, G.P.V. Akrigg