The original name of the settlement was Uttewas, meaning "white-slope village" in the Haida language.

Its population has fluctuated over the last one hundred and fifty years; smallpox, especially the 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic, drastically reduced its numbers in the late 1800s, but in 1968, it had over 1,000 people and was the largest village in Haida Gwaii.

He chose to create a single reserve from the two villages, Uttewas and Kayung, the latter of which he describes as being nearly abandoned.

This reserve would measure about 770 acres, not including the land owned by the Hudson's Bay Company and the Church Mission Society.

This article about a location on the Coast of British Columbia, Canada is a stub.