TOFINO, B.C. -- Clayoquot, as in Clayoquot Sound, was an Anglicized spelling of the name of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations people, a branch of the Nuu-chah-nulth (formerly Nootka) tribe. ("First Nations" is a term used for native people of Canada.)

Visitors to Tofino can look across the harbor to see the Tla-o-qui-ahts' tribal village, Opitsat, on wild Meares Island, a site believed to have been occupied for at least 3,000 years. The Tla-o-qui-ahts played a major role in blocking the logging of Meares Island when the chief declared the island a Tribal Park in the 1980s.

Getting tuned into that native culture is a good way to get the full flavor of this place.

Fishing boats set out in the morning across Tofino Inlet, with Lone
Cone Mountain and the tribal village of Opitsat in the distance.

While we enjoyed our kayak outing, an option we'd look at next time is a tour with Tlaook Cultural Adventures, which offers paddling adventures with First Nations guides in traditional Nuu-chah-nulth dugout canoes.

They offer paddling outings to Meares Island for what they call a "Wild Grocery Walk" -- showing what's edible -- among the giant trees of the rain forest ($64 for four hours). For $140, there's a 6-hour outing that includes a salmon barbecue in the traditional manner, the fish splayed over an open fire on the beach. (Other toothsome offerings include crab, sea urchin and bannock, the traditional bread.)

A traditional Nuu-chah-nulth dugout canoe carved by Chief Kwiistuh (Charles Jones Sr.) when he was 98 years old is displayed at the Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, near Tofino.