Tow Hill adopted in the 1930 BC Gazetteer, as labelled on Geological Survey of Canada maps compiled by George Dawson, 1878; confirmed 6 February 1948 on Chart #3714 and 10 December 1959 on 103 J/4. Spelling changed 7 January 2022 to Taaw Tldáaw on 103J/4 as recommended by The Council of the Haida Nation and supported by North Coast Regional District, Archipelago Search and Rescue, and BC Parks.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

"Taaw Tldáaw" is the ancestral X̲aad Kil name for this hill (Advice from The Council of the Haida Nation, 2020).

Source: included with note

This 133-m formation of columnar basalt, the most distinctive landmark for miles around, has a well-known blowhole at its base and is associated with numerous Haida First Nation legends. The name Tow originally rhymed with “cow” but has come to be pronounced “toe.” It is supposedly derived from a Haida word meaning “place of food,” and the area’s rich razor clam beds did indeed support a small cannery in the 1920s. QCI historian Kathleen Dalzell tells the story of a supernatural being named Tow who lived on top of the hill, terrorizing local residents and eating their children. The crippled outcast Hopi promised to vanquish Tow in return for the hand of the chief’s gorgeous daughter. His offer was ridiculed by other tribe members, of course, but Hopi succeeded in irritating Tow so severly with his whistle and drum that the monster jumped off the hill in pursuit of his tormentor and fell to his death. Hopi became an important – and happily married – community member. Geologist George M Dawson gave “eulachon grease” as a meaning for Tow and added the name to his charts in 1878. Prior to that the feature had been known as Nagdon Hill and Macroon Hill. The area is now part of Naikoon Provincial Park.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pages 598-599.

This feature is an eroded volcanic plug - the most distinctive navigational landmark on the entire North Beach. Tow is derived from a Haida word that rhymes with "cow", and means place of food. Many legends about its' origin and the significance of the blowhole at the base of the hill......

Source: Dalzell, Kathleen E; "Queen Charlotte Islands - Book 2: of places and names"; Prince Rupert: Cove Press, 1973

Identified as "Macroon hill" in Sailing Directions, Queen Charlotte Islands - Western Coast of North America, 1853, p.7; remarks by George H. Inskip, Master, RN. (British Library 10496.i.29). Labelled "Nagdon Hill" on British Admiralty Chart 2430 (a compilation of Vancouver's 1792 survey with corrections from a Russian chart of 1849), published in 1856.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office