The K’ómoks or K'omoks, usually known in English as the Comox people, are an indigenous group of Coast Salishan-speaking people in Comox, British Columbia and in Toba Inlet and the Malaspina Peninsula areas of the British Columbia mainland across Georgia Strait. They historically spoke the Komox language, and were divided in two main dialect and tribal groupings, which are known by academics as Island Comox and Mainland Comox. The Island Comox of Vancouver Island now centered in the area of Courtenay-Comox, were historically the greatest and most powerful K’ómoks group; both - K’ómoks together with the neighboring Pentlatch - were referring in their original language to their cultural collective as Sathloot, known to the Mainland Comox as the θaɬaθtuxʷ. After being conquered and politically dominated by southward moving warring Laich-kwil-tach they refer today in their adopted Lik'wala dialect of Kwak'wala to themselves as K’ómoks. Today the Island Comox have close political and family ties to the Weiwaikum of the Campbell River Band located in and around the city ofCampbell River on the east coast of Vancouver Island, to the Weiwaikai of the Cape Mudge Indian Band on Quadra Island, and to the Walitsima / Walitsum Band of Salmon River, who now occupy territories that were formerly Sathloot. Many of these Laich-kwil-tach Bands are of Sathloot descent. Today the originally languages of both Sathloot groups are extinct: the Island Comox dialect or Qʼómox̣ʷs and the Puntletch / Puntledge language are dropped in favor for the Lik'wala dialect and later for English. Those across the strait are known by academics as the Mainland Comox and are formed today of three groups :
The K’ómoks First Nation Aboriginals were the original settlers of the Comox Valley. They occupied the valley for thousands of years, leaving behind the Great Comox Midden, buried strata of discarded sea shells, testifying to a love of shellfish that still prevails on the coast. The K’ómoks peoples knew the European traders who explored their shores in search of sea otter pelts. Buccaneering Sir Francis Drake likely dropped by on his secret expedition in 1579. The equally intrepid explorer Captain James Cook circumnavigated Vancouver Island in 1778. Both English and Spanish ships explored and exploited the coast thereafter.
