The Küómoks (also spelled Comox) are a Coast Salish Indigenous people whose traditional territory is centered in the north-central Salish Sea and southern Johnstone Strait. They are characterized by a common language (Ayajuthem; a Coast Salishan language).
The term "Küómoks" derives from the Kwaküwala word "kwüumuxws", meaning 'plentiful'. It is very unlikely that Ayajuthem speaking people - who we now call Küómoks - ever used this word to refer to themselves, and may not have even seen themselves as one ethnic group as is implied by this article.
Küómoks is further divided based on dialect:
Source:
The Island Comox territory extended from Salmon River in the north all the way to Englishman River in the south.
The northern territory (Salmon River to Oyster River, and offshore islands) was held by tribes now organized as part of the Küómoks First Nation. Historically they called themselves:
Sharing the land and waters around Salmon River were the Hahamatsees/Walitsma, a Kwakwaka'wakw people.
The southern territory (roughly Cape Lazo to Englishman River) was occupied by the Pentlach, including tribes such as:
The Mainland Comox territory included many of the river inlets between Jervis Inlet and Bute Inlet.
It has been speculated that Francis Drake may have sailed as far north as the 48th latitude during his Pacific voyages in 1579, though it is unlikely that he would have encountered the Küómoks.
Spain was the first European country to explore the Pacific Northwest following the expedition of Juan José Pérez Hernández in 1774, though it is unlikely the Küómoks had direct European contact occurred until the first circumnavigations of Vancouver Island in 1792 by George Vancouver of England and Galiano and Flores of Spain. It is likely the Küómoks encountered Europeans first not by direct contact, but indirectly via a smallpox epidemic in 1790 that caused a significant decline in Indigenous populations.
In the years surrounding European contact, the Laich-kwil-tach people began a southern expansion, pushing the northern tribes of the Küómoks south into Pentlach territory. As a result, Laich-kwil-tach, Küómoks, and Pentlach language and culture began to blend.
Between ~1830 and ~1850, many of the above-mentioned tribes were forcibly relocated from their village sites and traditional territories. Smallpox continued to spread throughout indigenous communities and caused significant declines in populations.
In the 1860s, Francis Charles Mayne travelled extensively throughout British Columbia. Of the Küómoks he has said:<blockquote>"They are a large tribe, and have a reputation of being rather savage, though we always found them very peaceably disposed. They know quite well the value of the 6,000 to 8,000 acres of clear land which they possess..."</blockquote>The first baptisms of the area are noted to have occurred on Denman Island in 1860.
In 1876 the Comox First Nation was created under the Indian Act.
By the 1890s, residential schools began appearing on the west coast of mainland BC, as well as Vancouver Island and surrounding islands. Küómoks children were likely taken to one or more of the Sechelt Residential School, the Alberni Residential School, the St. Michael's Residential School, and the Kuper Island Residential School.
The Hahamatsees/Walitsma were amalgamated into the Comox First Nation in 1940.
Following European contact, the Küómoks were organized around five band governments as described below:
Note: Qualicum First Nation members are likely predominately descendants of the Pentlach people, not Küómoks. Many Pentlach and Küómoks intermarried, and population declines and forced relocation due to colonial interests likely resulted in Küómoks and Pentlach tribes intermixing.
The Küómoks are situated at what is considered to be the northern extent of the Coast Salish cultural group and the southern extent of Kwakwaka'wakw cultural group. As such many of their cultural practices represent a unique blending of the two.
The Comox language is critically endangered; there are an estimated 36 speakers. Effort is being expended to develop a program to revitalize the language.
There are at least four dialects spoken, Coast Salish, Pentlatch and ayajusem (Island Comox dialect), and Kwaküwala. Kwaküwala is the most common language used in the region, it was used during the fur-trading era, in ceremonies, between intermarriages, and has evolved into a more complex system over time. Pentlatch has become less common; Küomoks Ancestors are said to have spoken this dialect. Pentlactch is more specific to the Coast Salish Side of Küomoks. The Last Fluent speaker of Pentlatch Passed in 1940. Ayajusem or also known as Island Comox Dialect is spoken in more specific regions such as Sathloot, Sasitla, Leeksun, Xa'xe, and Komokwe Peoples. The last fluent speaker died in the 1990s. Both Pentaltch and ayajusem contain some linguistic features influenced by Kwaküwala, such as the disappearance of an s-nominalizer in some instances as well as a few vocabulary words. However, they are overall distinct languages and do not contain sufficient elements of a wakashan language structure
Today the original languages of both Sathloot groups are extinct: the Island Comox dialect or Qüómoxã÷s (Salhulhtxw / Saìuìtx÷) and the Puntletch / Puntledge (PÃÂnÃÂÃÂáÃÂ) language are dropped in favor for the Liqüwala dialect and later for English.