Raiding and captive-taking (18th–19th centuries) Prior to and during early contact with Europeans, the Cowichan (Quw’utsun) engaged in maritime raiding and captive-taking as part of inter-tribal warfare and resource competition. Warriors in large war canoes sometimes travelled long distances to attack other villages, seize goods, and capture people for enslavement or ransom. In approximately 1825, a coalition of Puget Sound tribes led by Chief Kitsap of the Suquamish confronted Cowichan raiders near Dungeness Spit after the Cowichan had previously conducted raids in the Puget Sound region. Such raids were part of a wider network of conflict and exchange in which captives were taken, incorporated into households, traded, or used as labour. Slavery among the Cowichan was a recognized social institution before European contact. Some historical and legal records describe the Cowichan’s regional influence as partly derived from their ability to project power through raids on upriver and coastal groups. For example, in 1808, explorer
Simon Fraser was warned by other tribes that Cowichan ruled most of the territory between the
Fraser River and the Pacific Ocean. As British and colonial authority expanded in the mid-19th century, inter-tribal warfare and slavery were gradually suppressed through new laws, missionary influence, and shifting economic systems. By 1912, the Cowichan Nation's population had fallen to around 500. == Land and reserves ==