On the central coast of British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Strait is the center of Kwakwaka'wakw territory. Traditionally the Kwakwaka'wakw lived along the outer coast from Smith Sound to Cape Cook, on the shores of Queen Charlotte Strait, and the inlets leading into it, eastward along Johnstone Strait, and as far south as the northern end of Georgia Strait.

The first recorded contact occurred in 1786 when the British trader James Strange discovered Queen Charlotte Strait. The next recorded contact was in 1792 when the people of Queen Charlotte Strait were visited successively by Americans under Robert Gray, British under George Vancouver, and Spanish under Dionosio Alcala Galiano and Cayetano Valdes. Vancouver found the Kwakwaka'wakw in possession of muskets when sailing near the mouth of the Nimpkish River, indicating overland trade with the Nuu-chah-nulth on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The Kwakwaka'wakw are a Wakashan First Nations people on northern Vancouver Island, the adjacent mainland coast and the islands between. They speak the Kwakwala language (Kwakwaka'wakw means "those who speak Kwakwala") and share a cultural orientation to the sea. The people were organized socially in small family groups, called numayms. Each numaym had its own chief, resource sites, crests and privileges. Several numayms from an area congregated in a tribe that might inhabit a central winter village and perform social and economic activities together.

Following winter ceremonies, the people moved to their eulachon fishing stations in April and May, then spent the period from June to November fishing for salmon, gathering shellfish and berries, hunting and engaging in other subsistence activities. Some of the Kwakwaka'wakw engaged in the sea otter trade, especially at the north end of Vancouver Island. This was their first contact with Europeans. With the decline of the otter trade during the 1820s, the land-based fur trade became more important. The Hudson's Bay Company used the steamer Beaver to visit the villages of the Inside Passage, which now became centers of trade.

The first permanent trading settlement in Kwakwaka'wakw territory was Fort Rupert, established by the HBC in 1849 to exploit local coal resources. The non-aboriginal population grew slowly until the 1880s, when economic activity - logging, fishing, salmon canning, and mining - began to increase sharply. At the same time diseases took a terrible toll on the Kwakwaka'wakw. From a population estimated at 19,000 at contact with Europeans, the number fell to a low point of only 1,000 people in the 1920s, a decline of close to 95%. The number of tribes also declined from more than 2 dozen to about 15 as villages were abandoned and groups amalgamated. By WWI the Kwakwaka'wakw were no longer the majority in their own territory. The survivors began to engage in the commercial economy, working in the fishery, the canneries, the seal hunt, hop picking and logging. Since the 1920s the population has recovered; by 2005 it had reached about 5,500.

Social organization depended on the Potlatch and other ceremonies, so the prohibition of the potlatch in 1884 was another serious blow to the culture. People continued to hold potlatches secretly until 1921, when Dan Cranmer held a large ceremony on Village Island and the authorities enforced the law. Participants were arrested and ceremonial objects were confiscated. Some of these objects were returned in 1979 and are now housed in the U'Mista Cultural Centre at Alert Bay and in the Kwagiulth Museum at Cape Mudge on Quadra Island.

Each tribal group is associated with a particular territory, though there are fewer tribes today than formerly. The Lekwiltok are the most southerly group, occupying Quadra Island and the Campbell River area. They were renowned for their for their fierce attacks on the Salishan First Nations along Georgia Strait. A group of 4 tribes known collectively as the Musgamagw occupied Gilford Island and the principal village of Gwayasdums. One of these tribes, the Tsawatainuk, is associated with Kingcome Inlet and the ancient village of Gwa'yi. Two tribes occupied the upper reaches of Knight Inlet where each spring thousands of people congregated at Tsawatti village for the eulachon run. Three tribes associated with lower Knight Inlet are the Mamaleleqala of Village Island, the Matilpi and the Tlowitsis.

The 'Namgis First Nation, or Nimpkish, used to occupy the Nimpkish River watershed. Their main village at the mouth of the river was Whulk (Xwalkw), called Cheslakee by Capt George Vancouver when he visited in 1792. The 'Namgis are now cent red at Alert Bay. The Kwakiutl First Nation are the 4 related tribes that congregated around Fort Rupert after it was built. Four tribes occupied Quatsino Sound; they later amalgamated and moved to a site near Coal harbour. Other tribes or tribal groups include the Nahwitti, who occupied the northern tip of the Island, and the Gwa'sala and 'Nakwaxda'xw, whose descendants moved to the Port Hardy area in 1964.