Cumshewa, British Columbia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cumshewa
Cumshewa, British Columbia Location in British Columbia
Country	Canada
Province	BC/BCE
Area code(s)	250, 778

Cumshewa village in 1878.

Cumshewa was once a village of the Haida people. It is located on the north side of Cumshewa Inlet in Haida Gwaii, which is off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.

The village is named after Cumshewa, an important Haida chief. He was a leader during the time of the Maritime Fur Trade, which happened in the late 1700s and early 1800s. A nearby point of land, Cumshewa Head, is also named after him. This area was home to several other Haida villages in the past.

The name Cumshewa Inlet was first used by ship captains involved in the fur trade. They named it after the powerful local chief. This name was used on maps for a long time. It became an official name in British Columbia on April 6, 1926. The last people living in Cumshewa were asked to move to Skidegate in 1926.

What Does "Cumshewa" Mean?

The name Cumshewa comes from the Heiltsuk language. It means "rich at the mouth of the river."

The old Haida name for the village was Thlinul. A fur trader named John Work wrote it down as Tlkinool in 1839. This was during a count of people by the Hudson's Bay Company.