View source for Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations

{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Short description|Nuu-chah-nulth band government in British Columbia, Canada}}
{{Infobox First Nation
| band_name             = Mowachaht/Muchalaht
| band_number           = 630
| endonym               = 
| image                 = 
| caption               = 
| map                   = Mowachaht-Muchalaht.png
| map_caption           = 
| people                = [[Nuu-chah-nulth]]
| treaty                = 
| headquarters          = [[Gold River, British Columbia|Gold River]]
| province              = {{BC}}
| main_reserve          = Ahaminaquus 12
| reserve               = 
| area                  = 3.88
| pop_year              = 2025
| on_reserve            = 223
| on_other_land         = 37
| off_reserve           = 350
| total_pop             = 
| chief                 = Michael Maquinna
| council               = 
* Daniel Savey Sr.
* Patrick James
* Jerome Jack
| tribal_council        = [[Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council]]
| website               = {{URL|https://www.mmfn.ca/}}
| footnotes             = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Mowachaht/Muchalaht |url=https://fnp-ppn.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/FNMain.aspx?BAND_NUMBER=630&lang=eng |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=First Nation Profiles |publisher=[[Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada]]}}</ref>
}}
The '''Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations''' are a [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] government on the west coast of [[Vancouver Island]] in the [[Canadian province]] of [[British Columbia]].  The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations are a member nation of the [[Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council]], which spans all Nuu-chah-nulth-aht peoples except for the [[Pacheedaht First Nation]].

Their main [[Indian reserve|reserve]] is at [[Gold River, British Columbia]] but the Mowachaht are originally from [[Yuquot, British Columbia|Yuquot]] on [[Nootka Sound]], known to history as Friendly Cove, scene of the [[Nootka Crisis|Nootka Incident]] and, later, the negotiations and eventual implementation of the [[Nootka Convention]]s between [[British Empire|Britain]] and [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], hosted by the Mowachaht chief [[Maquinna]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations |url=https://data.nativemi.org/tribal-directory/Details/mowachaht-muchalaht-first-nations-1642189 |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=Default Site |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Name==
The Mowachaht (pronounced {{IPA|sal|muwat͡ʃʼatħ|}}),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/a_guide_to_pronunciation_of_bc_first_nations_-_oct_29_2018.pdf |title=A Guide to the Pronunciation of Indigenous Communities and Organizations |website=gov.bc.ca |date=2018 |access-date=2023-02-18}}</ref> which translates to people of the deer, originate from a place called Friendly Cove, or [[Yuquot]] (translates to "Wind comes from all directions"). The name Muchalaht translates to the people who hover over the river or the people over the river.

==History==
In the mid-to-late 18th century, [[First contact (anthropology)|first contact]] between [[indigenous peoples]] in what is now British Columbia, [[Canada]] and European explorers first happened in Yuquot.

In 1979, Chief Jerry Jack traveled to [[Copenhagen]] to meet with the Danish government and the Danish corporation [[East Asiatic Company]] to protest the pollution of Mowachaht-Muchalaht lands by the Tahsis mill.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hvalkof |first1=Soren |last2=Weber |first2=Hanne |title=Multinational Corporation Polluting Indian Reserve |url=https://www.iwgia.org/es/documents-and-publications/documents/publications-pdfs/english-publications/278-newsletter-24-1980/file.html |journal=[[IWGIA]]|date=1980 |issue=42 |pages=33}}</ref>

On July 27, 2006, Chief [[Jerry Jack]] of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations died during an intertribal canoe journey in the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]], near [[Dungeness Spit]]. Two other members of the canoe's crew were sent to hospital in [[Port Angeles, Washington]]. Chief Jack was well known for his involvement with the story of [[Luna (orca)|Luna]], a young orphaned human-friendly [[orca]] who frequented [[Nootka Sound]] and was killed by a boat propeller in 2006.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dunagan |first1=Christopher |title=Lonely Luna Hit, Killed by Tugboat |url=https://archive.kitsapsun.com/news/local/lonely-luna-hit-killed-by-tugboat-ep-423905359-362467991.html |journal=Kitsap Sun |date=2006}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Nuu-chah-nulth people|Nuu-chah-nulth]]
*[[Nuu-chah-nulth language]]
*[[Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council]]
*[[Maquinna]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.yuquot.ca/ Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations]

{{Nuu-chah-nulth-aht First Nations}}
{{First Nations in British Columbia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mowachaht Muchalaht First Nations}}
[[Category:Nuu-chah-nulth governments]]
[[Category:Nootka Sound region]]