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Kwakiutl

American  
[kwah-kee-oot-l] / ˌkwɑ kiˈut l /

noun

  1. Also called Kwakwaka'wakw.  a member of one of the First Nations of Vancouver Island and the adjacent coast of mainland British Columbia.

  2. Also called Kwak'wala.  the Wakashan language of the Kwakiutl.


adjective

  1. of or relating to the Kwakiutl or their language.

Kwakiutl British  
/ ˌkwɑːkɪˈuːtəl /

noun

  1. a member of a North American Indian people of N Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland

  2. the language of this people, belonging to the Wakashan family

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Kwakiutl

First recorded in 1845–50; from Kwakiutl Kwagu'ł, a place name

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

In the Pacific Northwest, salmon and other fish were so plentiful that the Haida, Tlingit, and Kwakiutl tribes built elaborate and complex cultures based on the sea.

From Textbooks Jan. 18, 2018

Rivers in the rainy forests of the Pacific Northwest attracted annual swarms of salmon, which members of the Chinook, Kwakiutl, Haida, and Tlingit tribes harvested and dried to last all year.

From Textbooks Jan. 18, 2018

After 1849, the Kwakiutl population was decimated, but it survives.

From New York Times Jan. 4, 2017

Kwakiutl or Tsimshian, with their exquisite shell-inlay work and flowing, knife-blade forms that so inexplicably resemble archaic Chinese bronze decoration, without feeling some instant response to the vitality of their stylistic language.

From Time Magazine Archive

This is the case with the Ainu, the Maoris, the Greenlanders, the Kwakiutl of Northwest America,1808 and is probably the rule in most of the lower communities.

From Introduction to the History of Religions Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IV by Jastrow, Morris

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