Nootka

[ noot-kuh, noot- ]

noun

, plural Noot·kas, (especially collectively) Noot·ka

1. former name of the Nuu-chah-nulth.

Nootka

/ ˈnuːt-; ˈnʊtkə /

noun

1. -ka-kas a member of a North American Indian people living in British Columbia and Vancouver Island
2. the language of this people, belonging to the Wakashan family

Word History and Origins

Origin of Nootka¹

First recorded in 1780–90; possibly from Nootka nu⋅tka⋅ “to circle around,” mistaken by Captain James Cook to be the name of the people or of Nootka Sound

Example Sentences

Logging was threatening a cherished sockeye salmon stream, Owossitsa Creek, at the north end of Nootka Island, where Western Forest Products was cutting.

From Seattle Times

The Pioneer Square Habitat Beach, dreamed up about a decade ago, is a 200-foot-long stretch of sand, rocks and native plants and shrubs like Nootka rose and dunegrass.

From Seattle Times

On Nootka Island, areas of uncut forest show the abundance that was.

From Seattle Times

He wrote: "King George's Sound was the appellation given by the Commodore to this inlet, on our first arrival; but he was afterwards informed that the natives called it Nootka."

From BBC

The logs are covered in mulch, on which crews planted more than 30,000 native plants, shrubs and trees: Nootka rose, snowberry, cottonwoods, Lyngbye’s sedge, beach grass.

From Seattle Times