From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Aboriginals: Wakashans/Alan Mcmillan
Franz Boas’s long-term research with the northern Wakashans, particularly the Kwagiulth of Fort Rupert on northern Vancouver Island, has resulted in numerous scholarly publications. Perhaps the most useful general book is Kwakiutl Ethnography, edited by Helen Codere (Chicago, Ill., 1966). Ronald and Evelyn Rohner give a brief account of their work with the Kwak-waka’wakw, particularly at the community of Gilford Island, in The Kwakiutl: Indians of British Columbia (New York, 1970). A collection of papers on the Kwak-waka’wakw potlatch is available in a well-illustrated volume edited by Aldona Jonaitis, Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch (New York, 1991).
The primary ethnographic source on the Nuu-chah-nulth is Philip Drucker, The Northern and Central Nootkan Tribes (Washington, D.C., 1951). A more general book, dealing with all three southern Wakashan groups, is E.Y. Arima, The West Coast (Nootka) People (Victoria, B.C., 1983). The major Wakashan groups are covered in a popular illustrated book by Ruth Kirk entitled Wisdom of the Elders: Native Traditions on the Northwest Coast, the Nuu-chah-nulth, Southern Kwakiutl, and Nuxalk (Vancouver, 1986). Summary articles on all Wakashan peoples are available in the Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 7, Northwest Coast, edited by Wayne Suttles (Washington, D.C., 1990). In particular, see the articles “Nootkans of Vancouver Island” (E.Y. Arima and John Dewhirst), “Kwakiutl: Traditional Culture” (Helen Codere), “Haisla” (Charles Hamori-Torok), “Haihais, Bella Bella, and Oowekeeno” (Susanne Hilton), “Kwakiutl: Winter Ceremonies” (Bill Holm), and “Kwakiutl Since 1980” (Gloria Webster).
