Chaatl North Coast Regional District, British Columbia

Former First Nation Village - A place formerly inhabited by First Nations' people, with no current population or that is usually uninhabited. S side of Chaatl Island, facing NW corner of Moresby Island, Queen Charlotte Land District

Mapped Location

Chaatl: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on Chaatl

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Chaatl

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
Chaatl Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Chaatl

References to Chaatl that document the origin of its place name

Chaatl (locality) adopted 2 December 1954 on BC map 2F; this is an abandoned [Indigenous] settlement as labelled on 103F/2E.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

"Chaatl Island....the village of the same name being one of the important ancient villages of the Haida and celebrated for the fine totem poles still standing." (Fleet Robertson, BC member on the Geographic Board of Canada, 1915).

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

"Chaahl [sic] - a former Haida town on the NW coast of Moresby Island. This seems to have been the Kow-welth of John Work [HBC trader from Port Simpson], who assigned to it 35 houses with 561 inhabitants in 1836-41. Old people recall the names of 28 houses, but many more are said to have existed before a great fire which destroyed a large part of the town. In later times the people moved to New Gold Harbour, on the E end of Maude Island, and thence into Skidegate." (Swanton, 1905).

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Handbook of Indians of Canada, published as an Appendix to the 10th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 1912.  |  Province of British Columbia

"...all moved to Skidegate Inlet about 1870. However, even after the move to Skidegate Inlet, the old village of Chaatl was occupied regularly during fishing season for many years.... It was from either the village of Chaatl or Kaisun that George Dixon is said to have obtained the first labret - a lip decoration of much curiosity to traders...."

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Dalzell, Kathleen E; Queen Charlotte Islands - Book 2: of places and names; Prince Rupert: Cove Press, 1973  |  Province of British Columbia

 

North Coast Regional District

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-09-27