Contact with Europeans When
James Cook first encountered the villagers at
Yuquot in 1778, they directed him to "come around" (In the Nuu-chah-nulth language means "to circle around") with his ship to the harbour. Cook interpreted this as the First Nation's name for the inlet, now called
Nootka Sound. The term was also applied to the indigenous inhabitants of the area. The Nuu-chah-nulth were among the first Pacific peoples north of
California to encounter Europeans, who sailed into their area for trade, particularly the
Maritime fur trade. Tensions flared up between Spain and Great Britain over control of
Nootka Sound, which led to a bitter international dispute around 1790 known as the
Nootka Crisis. It was settled under the
Nootka Convention, in which Spain agreed to abandon its exclusive claims to the North Pacific coast. Negotiations to settle the dispute were handled under the aegis and hospitality of
Maquinna, a powerful chief of the
Mowachaht Nuu-chah-nulth. A few years later, Maquinna and his warriors captured the American trading ship
Boston in March 1803. He and his men killed the captain and all the crew but two, whom they kept as slaves. After gaining release,
John R. Jewitt wrote a classic
captivity narrative about his nearly 3 years with the Nuu-chah-nulth and his reluctant assimilation to their society. This 1815 book is titled
Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt;, Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston, during a Captivity of Nearly Three Years among the Savages of Nootka Sound: With an Account of the Manners, Mode of Living, and Religious Opinions of the Natives. In the end, Jewitt escaped with the help of
Wickaninnish, a chief from an opposing group. In 1811 the trading ship
Tonquin was blown up in
Clayoquot Sound. Tla-o-qui-aht warriors had attacked the ship in revenge for an insult by the ship's captain. The captain and almost all the crew were killed and the ship abandoned. The next day warriors reboarded the empty ship to salvage it. However, a hiding crew member set fire to the ship's magazine and the resulting explosion killed many First Nation peoples. Only one crew member, a pilot / interpreter hired from the nearby
Quinault nation, escaped to tell the tale. From earliest contact with European and American explorers up until 1830, more than 90% of the Nuu-chah-nulth died as a result of
infectious disease epidemics, particularly
malaria and
smallpox. Europeans and Americans were immune, as these diseases were
endemic in Europe, but the
First Nations had no immunity to them (see
Native American disease and epidemics). The high rate of deaths added to the social disruption and cultural turmoil resulting from contact with Westerners. In the early 20th century, the population was estimated at 3,500.
20th century In 1979, the tribes of western
Vancouver Island chose the term
Nuu-chah-nulth (, meaning "all along the mountains and sea"), Those studies used participant blood and other material for purposes which the community did not approve. ==Bands==