The Penelakut are a small (about 300 individuals) Hul'qumi'num

Halkomelem language

Halkomelem is a language of the First Nations peoples of southeastern Vancouver Island from the west shore of Saanich Inlet northward beyond Nanoose Bay, and of the mainland around the Fraser River Delta upriver to Harrison Lake and the lower...

-speaking First Nation. They live primarily at the south end of Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

 and Kuper Island

Kuper Island

Kuper Island belongs to the Penelakut First Nation and is located in the southern Gulf Islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. Kuper has a population of about 300 members of the Penelakut Band. The island has an area of 8.66 km²...

, Tent Island and Galiano Island

Galiano Island

Galiano Island is one of the Southern Gulf Islands between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the west side of the Strait of Georgia, it is 27.5 km long, 6 km at its widest point, and 1.6 km across at its narrowest point and is separated...

.

The name Penelakut comes from penálaxeth', the village on the northeast end of Kuper Island, once the largest Hul'qumi'num-speaking village in the Gulf Islands

Gulf Islands

The Gulf Islands are the islands in the Strait of Georgia , between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada....

. Penálaxeth' means "log buried on the beach", which may refer to the many longhouses that were once on the beach near there.

External links

• Penelakut Homepage
• Gallery of Penelakut Artwork
• Penelakut - Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group