| Language of origin | Haida language |
| Feature Type: | Point - Land area jutting into a water feature; also used for a convex change in direction of a shoreline. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | E side of Masset Sound, Queen Charlotte Land District |
| Tags: | Indigenous |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 53°59'51"N, 132°08'32"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 103F/16 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 6 February 1948 on Hydrographic Services Chart #3805, "Harbours in Queen Charlotte Islands," as established on British Admiralty Chart #3713, “Masset Sound,” 1880 and 1908, British Admiralty Chart #3711, “Plan of Masset Sound and Inlet,” 1924, and as listed in 1930 Gazetteer of Canada. Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff, file Q.2.45. |
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Skaga is an adaptation of the Haida First Nation word for a shaman or medicine man. Because of its patchy tree coverage, geologist George Mercer Dawson gave the name Tuft Island to this feature in 1878. In 1957, for unknown reasons, the hydrographic service changed the name to Skaga and applied Tuft to a nearby cluster of islets, one of which also sports a few scrubby trees. Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, page 547. |