"Klak-wit"
Clayoquot Sound bears the name of the Clayoquot people, who recently replaced that anglicized version of their name with the more authentic Tla-o-qui-aht.
The Tla-o-qui-aht have been a dominant presence in Clayoquot Sound ever since they took control of its vast network of inlets and islands by eliminating or subordinating at least eight other local groups. When Europeans began arriving there near the end of the 18th century, they found the entire region under the control of Chief Wickaninnish. Among the most powerful chiefs in Nuu-chah-nulth 7history, Wickaninnish was in complete command of all coastal commerce as far south as Barkley Sound.
The main village of the Tla-o-qui-aht is Opitsit, located on Meares Island opposite Tofino. Despite at least a 4,000-year-old history of native settlement, the wilderness rainforest of Meares Island appears substantially undisturbed by human activities. Yet for the trained eye, examples of past native use are everywhere. Shell middens, culturally modified trees, fish traps, ancient artifacts - many have been uncovered, but many more remain hidden in the half light of the sheltering trees.
