The Wuikinuxv people, also known as the Wuikenukv, Oweekeno, Wikeno, Owikeno, Oowekeeno, Oweekano, Awikenox, or Rivers Inlet people, are an Indigenous

Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast

The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those historical peoples. They are now situated within the Canadian Province of British Columbia and the U.S...

 First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 people of the Central Coast

Central Coast Regional District, British Columbia

Central Coast Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It has a total land area of 24,559.5 km² . When it was created in 1968, it was named the Ocean Falls Regional District, after the then-largest town in the region, the company town Ocean Falls, now a ghost town...

 region of the Canadian province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, located around Rivers Inlet

Rivers Inlet

Rivers Inlet is a fjord in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, its entrance from the Dean Channel near that fjord's mouth, about southwest of the community of Bella Coola and about north of the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the western entrance of the...

 and Owikeno Lake

Owikeno Lake

Owikeno Lake, also Owekeeno Lake, Owekano Lake, Oweekayno Lake and other spellings , is a large fjord lake in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It connects to the head of Rivers Inlet by the short Wannock River...

, to the north of Queen Charlotte Strait

Queen Charlotte Strait

Queen Charlotte Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It connects Queen Charlotte Sound with Johnstone Strait, Discovery Passage and then to the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound...

. The Wuikinuxv people and their neighbours the Heiltsuk

Heiltsuk

The Heiltsuk are an Indigenous First Nations of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the island communities of Bella Bella and Klemtu. The government of the Heiltsuk people is the Heiltsuk Nation...

 and Haisla

Haisla

The Haisla are an indigenous people living at Kitamaat in the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Their indigenous Haisla language is named after them...

 peoples were in the past sometimes known incorrectly as the "Northern Kwakiutl".

Culture

A recently completed Bighouse, which is the first in many long years, is the focus on a rebuilding of Wuikinukv society.

The culture was structured much the same as the other indigenous peoples of the coast. At the height of the coastal civilization, the Wuikinukv territory encompassed the mouth of Rivers Inlet

Rivers Inlet

Rivers Inlet is a fjord in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, its entrance from the Dean Channel near that fjord's mouth, about southwest of the community of Bella Coola and about north of the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the western entrance of the...

 to the head waters of Owikeno Lake.

Language

Oowekyala

Oowekyala language

Oowekyala is a dialect of Heiltsuk-Oowekyala, a Northern Wakashan language spoken around Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province...

, the language of the Wuikinuxv, is closely related to the Heiltsuk language

Heiltsuk language

Heiltsuk , also known as Bella Bella and Haihais, is a dialect of the North Wakashan language Heiltsuk-Oowekyala that is spoken by the Haihai and Bella Bella First Nations peoples of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, around the communities of Bella Bella and...

, so much so that it is considered one of two dialects of an unnamed language named Heiltsuk-Oowekyala, the other dialect being Heiltsuk

Heiltsuk language

Heiltsuk , also known as Bella Bella and Haihais, is a dialect of the North Wakashan language Heiltsuk-Oowekyala that is spoken by the Haihai and Bella Bella First Nations peoples of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, around the communities of Bella Bella and...

. It is also closely related to Haisla

Haisla language

The Haisla language is a First Nations language spoken by the Haisla people of the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, who are based in the village of Kitaamat 10 km from the town of Kitimat at the head of the Douglas Channel, a 120 km fjord that serves as a...

 and is also related to Kwak'wala

Kwak'wala

Kwak'wala is the Indigenous language spoken by the Kwakwaka'wakw. It belongs to the Wakashan language family. There are about 250 Kwak'wala speakers today, which amounts to 5% of the Kwakwaka'wakw population...

, the most widely-spoken of the Northern Wakashan languages

Wakashan languages

Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca....

. It is more distantly related to Nuu-chah-nulth

Nuu-chah-nulth language

Nuu-chah-nulth is a Wakashan language spoken in the Pacific Northwest of North America, on the west coast of Vancouver Island from Barkley Sound to Quatsino Sound in British Columbia, by the Nuu-chah-nulth people...

, Ditidaht and Makah

Makah language

The Makah language is the Indigenous language spoken by the Makah people. Makah has been extinct as a first language since 2002, when its last fluent native speaker died. However, it survives as a second language, and the Makah tribe is attempting to revive the language, including through preschool...

, the Southern Wakashan languages

Wakashan languages

Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca....

.

Location and services

At present the small community of Rivers Inlet, British Columbia

Rivers Inlet, British Columbia

Rivers Inlet is an unincorporated settlement and First Nations community of the Wuikinuxv people, located at the head of the inlet of the same name in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. The community is located adjacent to the Wannock River, a short waterway connecting Owikeno...

 exists on the banks of the 3 km Wannock River, which connects Owikeno Lake

Owikeno Lake

Owikeno Lake, also Owekeeno Lake, Owekano Lake, Oweekayno Lake and other spellings , is a large fjord lake in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It connects to the head of Rivers Inlet by the short Wannock River...

 to the head of Rivers Inlet

Rivers Inlet

Rivers Inlet is a fjord in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, its entrance from the Dean Channel near that fjord's mouth, about southwest of the community of Bella Coola and about north of the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the western entrance of the...

. It has an airstrip and daily service from a local airline. In the summer months, airline service is disrupted by the traffic in and out of the sport-fishing camps. The airline favors the tourists as opposed to the local community