Nakwaxda'xw
/nəˈkwɑːx.dɑʔxʷ/noun
A Kwakwaka'wakw Indigenous nation and traditional community of coastal British Columbia, also known historically as Nakoaktok.
Did you know?Nakwaxda'xw is an Indigenous ethnonym, and the apostrophe and x-like sounds represent features of Kwak'wala pronunciation that English spelling often cannot capture.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Kwak'wala
Nakwaxda'xw
“Traditional Indigenous name of the community; the exact internal translation is not securely established in commonly available English reference sources.”
19th Century
English records
Nakoaktok
“A colonial-era English rendering used for the Nakwaxda'xw people and community.”
Late 19th–20th Century
English
Nakoaktok / Nakwaxda'xw
“Both exonymic and Indigenous forms circulated in ethnographic, governmental, and community records.”
Modern English
English
Nakwaxda'xw
“The community’s preferred or contemporary Indigenous name, associated with the Nakwaxda'xw First Nation and Kwakwaka'wakw identity.”
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