Nootka
Americannoun
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Nootkas,
plural
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Nootka
plural
noun
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a member of a North American Indian people living in British Columbia and Vancouver Island
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the language of this people, belonging to the Wakashan family
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Nootka
First recorded in 1780–90; possibly from Nootka nu⋅tka⋅ “to circle around,” mistaken by Captain James Cook to be the name of the people or of Nootka Sound
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:
The Indigenous-led Salmon Parks conservation proposal received a commitment for $15.2 million in funding from the federal government to buy out forestry licenses and stop old-growth logging in selected watersheds around Nootka Sound.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
He wrote: "King George's Sound was the appellation given by the Commodore to this inlet, on our first arrival; but he was afterwards informed that the natives called it Nootka."
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2023
A second theory holds that Spanish explorers could have brought the disease during their journeys to Nootka Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island in the late 1770s.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2021
Both drew inspiration for their work from their study of North American languages such as Nootka, Shawnee and Hopi.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 27, 2018
Spanish writers identify the bay of San Lorenzo with that to which Captain Cook, four years afterwards, gave the name of Nootka Sound.
From The Oregon Territory Its History and Discovery by Travers Twiss
With the Nootkas, women are consulted on all matters of business.
From Religion & Sex Studies in the Pathology of Religious Development by Chapman Cohen
According to the Nootkas the soul has the shape of a tiny man; its seat is the crown of the head.
From The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
It was a union of the Indian tribes of Oregon and Washington, with the Willamettes at the head, against their great hereditary enemies, the Nootkas, the Shoshones, and the Spokanes.
From The Bridge of the Gods A Romance of Indian Oregon. 19th Edition. by Frederic Homer Balch
Houses very like these are built by the Ahts or Nootkas, a tribe of Indians inhabiting parts of Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland.
From First Across the Continent The story of the exploring expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-5-6 by Noah Brooks
Among the Nootkas whole tribes lived under one roof.
From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels
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