Tommy Happynook, traditional name ḥapinyuuk . Tommy’s great grandparents are Lizzie and Billy Happynook, his grandfather is Tommy Happynook, his parents are Tom and Kathy Happynook. Tommy is married to Carly Cunningham, and they have son named Mahihkan. Tommy has a PhD in Anthropology and works as an assistant professor in the department of Anthropology at the University of Victoria. His interests include documenting the reclamation of knowledge, teachings, culture, language, responsibilities, and identity through his relationship to čaačaac̓iiʕas. In specific and intentional ways his research is part of a larger story of reconciliation and reclamation to ḥahuułi in which the lands, waters, skies, and the natural and spiritual worlds are not a place and/or object of inquiry, they are non-human knowledge holders and teachers. Tommy is working hard to ensure that members of our maʔas can grow up connected to ḥahuułi, culture, and language.
History and Information about čaačaac̓iiʕas house
čaačaac̓iiʕas is in the northern part of the huuʕiiʔatḥ ḥaḥuułi, north of numaqimyis (Sarita River) and south of k̓uxsinqii/popomohah (San Mateo Bay) on the eastern edge of Barkley Sound, not far from the head of the Alberni Canal. The čaačaac̓iiʕasʔatḥ became part of the huuʕiiʔatḥ during a period of war in Barkley Sound, now known as the Long Wars. Tommy’s family’s oral history tells that we were reluctant to amalgamate; we were the last to join with the other eight nations, and this required extensive negotiations. The results of the negotiations saw that Tommy’s family would be the head whalers of huuʕiiʔatḥ, would hold the third seat in the newly formed nation, and would stand to the left of the tay̓ii ḥawił because our ḥaḥuułi, from the water, is to the left of the tay̓ii ḥawił ḥaḥuułi. In return the čaačaac̓iiʕasʔatḥ would recognize ƛiišin as the tay̓ii ḥawił. Since the signing of the Maa-nulth Treaty in 2011, the Johnson and Sport families are now part of the čaačaac̓iiʕas maʔas.
Reasons to contact your Ḥaw̓iił ḥapinyuuk (Tommy Happynook)
Please contact Tommy if you have questions or concerns related to Huu-ay-aht governance. Tommy is one of your avenues to contacting our government. More specifically, contact him if you have inquiries about culture, language, ceremony, governance, and/or are curious about what the ḥaw̓iiḥ are doing.
