The Centre of the World
In 1923, the Canadian government officially designated Yuquot as a historic site – the Site of First Contact between Aboriginal Peoples of Canada and Europeans when Captain James Cook met and traded with Chief Maquinna’s people, the Nootka. Other traders and explorers followed suit, coming from countries such as Spain, the United States, Russia, and France. The government of Canada, through Parks Canada, sponsored an archaeological excavation at Yuquot in 1966, revealing that there has been continuous human habitation for approximately forty-three hundred years.
colonialism, exploration, diplomacy
“Yuquot was the centre of our diplomacy, where all passersby had to stop and honour our great chiefs and request safe passage through our waters. With them, they brought riches from their territories to present to our chiefs. We, in turn, acknowledged their gifts of tribute with feasting from our vast resources. […] As part of our diplomacy, we presented carved images of our great Ancestors to representatives of European governments visiting our territory. These Ancestors are now living in your great treasure houses, which you call museums. They are our representatives in your cities and capitals. They are your acknowledgment of our diplomacy and the greatness of our nation. They are our boundary markers, showing the extent of our influence throughout the world.”
– Yuquot Agenda Paper,
Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation, revised 1998
Coming Home
The process of reclaiming the Yuquot Whalers’ Shrine has taken the Mowachaht-Muchalaht community 120 years since the shrine was removed in 1904 by George Hunt and Franz Boas. April 1, 2025 marked a significant moment when our community finally returned our sacred and deeply spiritual shrine to its original home in Yuquot following a decades-long effort of advocating for its return from the American Natural History Museum. We had discussed the issue of the Yuquot Whalers’ Shrine thoroughly, looking inside ourselves and rekindling our spiritual strength, first as individuals and then as a community. Some expressed the opinion that the spiritual power of the Whalers’ Shrine was broken with its removal from our community, and others felt that the only way for us to regain our spiritual ties was to bring the Whalers’ Washing House home, and with it, the spiritual power of our ancestors.
repatriation, reclamation, spirituality, recovery
The Heart of the People
Despite Yuquot being the traditional home of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht community, most of the community, apart from the Williams family, have relocated since the 1960s. First from Yuquot to Ahaminaquus under socioeconomic pressures from the Department of Indian Affairs and promises of employment in 1966, then from Ahaminaquus to Tsaxana after emissions from the neighbouring mill created environmental and health hazards for our people, and the economic benefits promised were not realized. Not long afterward, the first Annual Yuquot Campout took place in 1984. This tradition came out of many discussions by members of the community who, like Arn, remembered the good times they had at Yuquot and how they missed being “home.” Yuquot was the heart of the people, yet they were seldom able to visit. Most families have availed themselves of the opportunity the annual campout affords them to return to Yuquot for a seasonal visit to their ancestral home. Out of this came my lifelong passion for promoting Yuquot’s unique heritage.
displacement, tradition, home, heritage
In Perpetuity
In the same year that we first met, Arn brought me to Yuquot, or, as the world knows it, Friendly Cove. It was a trip that would forever change my life. When we pulled into the cove, it was magical–the coastal beauty, the remoteness, along with the rich history that encompasses millennia of Indigenous presence and centuries of transpacific encounters. Yuquot means “where the wind blows from all directions” – a term that captures the natural seaborn essence of the area. It is the main village of the Mowachaht people. Our annual Yuquot Summerfest welcomes guests from all over the world to celebrate our shared histories–from Comekela’s return with dozens of Chinese craftsmen aboard Meares’ ship in 1788, and the Nootka Crisis of 1792, to special moments and events. To commemorate Yuquot as a site of international significance, we are pursuing a UNESCO world heritage site designation for recognition of its rich world history, and developing Nis‘maas, a cultural centre dedicated to the passing down of knowledge to future generations.
preservation, beauty, essence, knowledge, history