In the 1880s and 1890s when books started to be written and research was being done on the peoples, the main base for all of this research was in a place called Fort Rupert, known as the Kwag'
(kwagyoth). When all the publishing was done and people read about the Kwag' and began to refer to all the Kwakwaka'wakw as Kwag', sometimes spelt Kwakuitl, Kwaguilth, Kwagulth, and Kwawkewlth. But this is only one tribe in the nation. Each tribe has its own name. These are some:
| Fort Rupert | Kwagu' | (kwagyoth) |
| Village Island | Mamalilikala | (mama le le ka la) |
| Alert Bay | Namgis | (num gees) * |
| Turner Island | awitsis | (thlow wet sees) |
| Knight Inlet | Awa'eala | (a wa e kla la) |
| New Vancouver | Da'naxda'xw | (da nok dowkw) |
| Kingcome Inlet | Dzawada'enuxw | ( ) |
* Kevin Cranmer's tribe
There was once a single tribe and it was said that this tribe split and grew into many more tribes. These tribes include the Hildzakw (Bella Bella), Awikinuxw (Riber Inlet), Xa'esala (Kitamat), the distant relatives are the (Kwikwasadzi) , Nuu-chah-nulth, Nitinaht and more distantly the Makah of Washington.
All of the Kwakwaka'wakw speak the same language, Kwakwala, and the more distant nations speak their own now. It was said that once they all spoke the same language.