Cowichan Bay was named by HBC officers, and is home to, along with the surrounding
Cowichan region, the Quw'utsun Nation, the largest Coast Salish Nation in
British Columbia.
1 The name Cowichan, likely derived from one of the many forms of Quw'utsun, is an
anglicization of
the Island's Halkomelem term for
warming the back.
2