page_title: Kwakwakaʼwakw
section_title: Transportation
hierarchical_section_title: Kwakwakaʼwakw / Culture / Transportation
caption_attribution_description: English: Harvesting clams in canoe. Kwakwakaʼwakw, Vancouver Island, BC.
context_page_description: The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, also known as the Kwakiutl are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their current population, according to a 2016 census, is 3,665. Most live in their traditional territory on northern Vancouver Island, nearby smaller islands including the Discovery Islands, and the adjacent British Columbia mainland. Some also live outside their homelands in urban areas such as Victoria and Vancouver. They are politically organized into 13 band governments.
  Their language, now spoken by only 3.1% of the population, consists of four dialects of what is commonly referred to as Kwakʼwala. These dialects are Kwak̓wala, ʼNak̓wala, G̱uc̓ala and T̓łat̓łasik̓wala.
context_section_description: Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw transportation was similar to that of other coastal people. Being an ocean and coastal people, they travelled mainly by canoe. Cedar dugout canoes, each made from one log, would be carved for use by individuals, families and communities. Sizes varied from ocean-going canoes, for long sea-worthy travel in trade missions, to smaller local canoes for inter-village travel. Some boats had buffalo fur inside to keep protection from the cold winters.
caption: A Kwakwakaʼwakw canoe
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