Солтүстік Американың жергілікті халықтары: Нуу-чах-нульт тайпалары

North American ethnic group

The Nuu chah nulth (/n//uː/'/tʃ//ɑː//n//ʊ//l//θ/; Nuučaan̓uł: ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu chah nulth is used to describe fifteen related tribes whose traditional home is on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In precontact and early post contact times, the number of tribes was much greater, but the smallpox epidemics and other consequences of contact with Europeans resulted in the disappearance of some groups and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. The Nuu chah nulth are related to the Kwakwaka'wakw, the Haisla, and the Ditidaht First Nation. The Nuu chah nulth language belongs to the Wakashan family. The governing body is the Nuu chah nulth Tribal Council.

When James Cook first encountered the villagers at Yuquot in 1778, they directed him to "come around" (Nuu chah nulth nuutkaa is "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 to these endemic diseases 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.

In 1979, the tribes of western Vancouver Island chose the term Nuu chah nulth (nuučaan̓uł, meaning "all along the mountains and sea"), Those studies used participant blood and other material for purposes which the community did not approve.

The Nuu chah nulth were one of the few Indigenous peoples on the Pacific Coast who hunted whales. Whaling is essential to Nuu chah nulth culture and spirituality. It is reflected in stories, songs, names, family lines, and numerous place names throughout their territories. Carbon dating shows that the Nuu chah nulth peoples hunted whales over 4000 years ago for both blubber and meat. The Nuu chah nulth peoples hunted whales of different species due to the range of territory that they reside in and the migration pattern of the whales. Those most often caught would be either grey or humpback whales due to their more docile nature and how close they would come to the shore. There is evidence that occasionally members of the Nuu chah nulth nations would hunt an orca despite the danger and difficulty as a way of showing bravery. Although it was a hazardous undertaking, those that ate “killer whale” regarded both its meat and blubber to be of higher quality than that of the larger whales. While whaling provided the Nuu chah nulth nations with an important source of food and blubber which could be rendered into oil it also played an important role in social life as well. The chief would lead a whale hunting party that was made up of other prominent members of the community. The traditional whaling practices of the fourteen different Nuu chah nulth nations vary as each community has their own distinct traditions, ceremonies, and rituals. Some simplified examples of Nuu chah nulth whaling traditions include ceremonial bathing, abstinence, prayer, and ceremony which were to be performed before and after the hunt. These rituals were performed by the chief leading the hunt as well as his wife; the ceremonies were seen as a key factor in determining the outcome of the hunt. Social status didn't just affect who was allowed to join the whaling hunt, it also affected the distribution of the whales’ meat and the blubber. Salmon streams were tended to ensure their continued strength and the fish were either cooked in large wooden vessels using water and hot stones or dried to be consumed during the winter. Nuu chah nulth nations also gathered resources from the land as food sources. Some of these edible plants include camas root, rhizomes from ferns and many different variety of berries such as blueberry and huckleberry to name a few examples. Some of the Nuu chah nulth nations also tended the growth of camas root and Crabapple trees in order to maintain them as a source of food. Within Nuu chah nulth nations individuals passed down their extensive knowledge of when and where to find these marine and land based foods through the generations from elders to youth. This is done both through comprehensive oral histories and through actively teaching children these important skills and having them participate in the collection of resources at a young age. In an effort to revive traditional diets, the Nuu chah nulth Tribal Council and sixteen tribes have contributed to recipes in a traditional wild food cookbook. The 90 page cookbook focuses on traditional recipes and seasonal ingredients from the west coast of Vancouver Island and Northern Washington. It explores First Nations cuisine and adds cooking tips, cultural observations, and oral history anecdotes. Čamus (chum us) features traditional and wild ingredients. Čamus explores the art of how to butterfly a salmon and how to can fish, also providing recipes for marinated seaweed, steam pit cooking, and Nuu chah nulth upskwee. Čamus illuminates a traditional way of eating while promoting a healthy lifestyle. The First Nations of Vancouver Island's west coast and northern Washington link family and community in their respectful treatment of their territories' freshest ingredients.

Nuu chah nulth nations also used the wood and bark of red and yellow cedar trees as both a building material and to produce many different objects. Artists and wood workers within a nation would carve full logs into totem poles and ocean going canoes, and the bark would be torn into strips and softened in water until malleable enough to be woven into baskets, clothing, and ceremonial regalia.

Due to the abundance of resources throughout the territories of the Nuu chah nulth nations, social life became more structured and a visible hierarchy formed within the communities. These consisted of the commoner class, and the chiefs that controlled the region. While members of the commoner class had autonomy they still required the consent of the chief to fish, hunt, and forage within the communities’ territory. cementing alliances, the celebration and solemnization of marriage, and commemoration of important events.