| Feature Type: | Community - An unincorporated populated place, generally with a population of 50 or more, and having a recognized central area that might contain a post office, store and/or community hall, etc, intended for the use of the general public in the region. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | S side of Bulkley River just E of Hazelton, NW of Smithers, Cassiar Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 55°15'26"N, 127°35'51"W at the approximate population centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 93M/5 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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"Awillgate (Indian Village), not Ahwillgate" adopted in the 15th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1917, as identified in BC Mines Report, 1911, and in Report of the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs, 1916, vol 1, p.192. Spelling changed to Hagwilget (settlement) 1 March 1938 on 93M/4. Subsequently changed to Hagwilget (community). Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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"The name should be spelled Hagwelget... my authority for spelling it this way is from the Rev. E.M. Bunoz, OMI, Prince Rupert, who spelled it that way in some correspondence on the subject of the townsite here, (ie. New Hazelton) in 1911." (18 May 1914 letter from B. Affleck, BCLS, to Chief Geographer (file 14527s, part II). [additional spelling variations appear on maps/documents published before mid-1930s: Haguelgate, Hagulget, Hagwilket, Achwilget, Ahwilgate, Ackwilgate....] Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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"Five miles from Hazelton, which stands at the junction of the Bulkley River with the Skeena... is the Babine village of Rocher Déboulé, or Ackwilgate, as the Tsimsians have it. Rocher Déboulé means Fallen Rock, from part of the mountain just back of it which formerly fell off into the river. Ackwilgate means well-dressed." (Fifty Years in Western Canada, by Rev. A.G. Morice, OMI; Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1930, p.111, extracted from Morice's 1900-1904 memoirs.) Elsewhere, Ackwilgate translates as "ostentatious man" from their gaudy attire. (A Visit to the Tsimshian Indians, by Louis Shotridge, published in Museum Journal, University of Pennsylvania, Vol X, No 3, September 1919, p. 143.) Source: included with note |
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"An [Indigenous] name meaning 'the gentle or quiet people.' Because of its position at the lower end of Bulkley Canyon, this village was a scene of great activity each year when the salmon were running." Source: Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; 1001 British Columbia Place Names; Discovery Press, Vancouver 1969, 1970, 1973. |