Cumshewa

{{short description|18th-century leader of the Haida people}}

Cumshewa, also Go'mshewah, Cummashawa, Cummashawaas, Cumchewas, and Gumshewa, was an important hereditary leader of the Haida people of Haida Gwaii on the North Coast of what is now British Columbia, Canada.{{Cite book |last=Malloy |first=Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxgSAQAAIAAJ&q=Cummashawaas |title="Boston Men" on the Northwest Coast: The American Maritime Fur Trade 1788-1844 |date=1998 |publisher=Limestone Press |isbn=978-1-895901-18-4 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WZaeXTCAzgC&q=Gumshewa |title=The Washington Historical Quarterly |date=1921 |publisher=Washington University State Historical Society. |language=en}} His name is believed to be of either Kwak'wala or Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) origin, meaning "rich at the mouth of the river".{{Cite web |title=Civilization.ca - Haida - Southern villages - Cumshewa |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/haida/hvcum01e.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=www.historymuseum.ca}}{{Cite book |last=MacDonald |first=George F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4yKAgAAQBAJ&dq=Gomshewah&pg=PA39 |title=Chiefs of the Sea and Sky: Haida Heritage Sites of the Queen Charlotte Islands |date=2013-12-01 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0-7748-5067-4 |language=en}} He is mentioned by Captain George Dixon, who traded with him in 1787.{{Cite book |last=Birx |first=H. James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eRF5CgAAQBAJ&dq=Cumshewa+chief+war&pg=PT2007 |title=Encyclopedia of Anthropology: FIVE-VOLUME SET |date=2005-12-08 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-5063-2003-8 |language=en}} In 1794, Cumshewa and his warriors massacred the crew of the American vessel Resolution.{{Cite book |last=Snow |first=Elliot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHNZzqi4dp0C&dq=Cumshewa+dixon&pg=PA340 |title=Adventures at Sea in the Great Age of Sail: Five Firsthand Narratives |date=1986-01-01 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-25177-6 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Woodcock |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09UUAAAAYAAJ&q=Cumshewa+chief+captive |title=British Columbia: A History of the Province |date=1990 |publisher=Douglas & McIntyre |isbn=978-0-88894-702-4 |language=en}}