Laich-kwil-tach

Laich-kwil-tach (also spelled Liǧʷiłdaxʷ), is the Anglicization of the Kwak'wala autonomy by the "Southern Kwakiutl" people of Quadra Island and Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada.

So great was the power of the Southern Kwakiutl that the Comox people of the Courtenay-Comox came to speak Kwak'wala instead of K'omox, which today remains spoken by their kin the Sliammon and Homalhko on the other side of Georgia Strait around Powell River.

Many of the Wewaykum in Campbell River are of Comox descent, while the Weewaikai of the Cape Mudge Band retain noble lineages and ceremonies going back centuries to their roots in the Queen Charlotte Strait.

There was one notable incident shortly after the founding of Fort Langley in which the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) staff repelled a siege by the Euclataws (i.e. the Laich-kwil-tach) with cannonades (much earning the appreciation of the beleaguered local Kwantlens).

Despite the presence of Fort Langley the Laich-kwil-tach continued to raid other Sto:lo communities farther up the river.