Kwaguʼł
/ˈkwɑːɡuːɬ/noun
A Kwakwakaʼwakw Indigenous people and community traditionally associated with Fort Rupert in British Columbia, Canada.
Did you know?Kwaguʼł is often rendered in older English sources as “Kwakiutl,” although that label originally referred more specifically to the Kwaguʼł rather than to all Kwakwakaʼwakw peoples.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-contact era
Kwakʼwala
Kwaguʼł
“The autonym used by the Kwaguʼł people; a definitive literal translation is not securely established in standard English-language etymological sources.”
18th–19th Century
Kwakʼwala/English transcription
Kwaguʼł
“The name was recorded in varying spellings by European explorers, missionaries, and colonial administrators.”
19th Century
English
Kwakiutl
“An anglicized form used in colonial and anthropological writing, often applied broadly to related Kwakwakaʼwakw peoples.”
20th Century
English
Kwakiutl
“The older English label remained common in ethnographic and popular publications, despite its narrower original reference.”
Modern English
English
Kwaguʼł
“The community and Indigenous nation’s preferred contemporary name in contexts emphasizing self-identification and linguistic accuracy.”
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