The names of the months in x̄á’islak̓ala relate to activities that take place around that time. A lot of the names end with the suffix /-qus/ which means something like “time of” or “month of”.

In old times, x̄á’isla people measured time by looking at the mountain across the bay from Kitamaat Village called gélw̓anuxʷ (“Canoe Mountain”). By watching where the sun set behind the mountain, we were able to determine what time of year it was. It starts off on the southern end in January, then moves north. It reaches its furthest point in June, then starts traveling south again.

There are two names for April, they have different meanings but either one can be used. My understanding is that záxʷilaqus can be used for the first half of the month and q̓ʷáx̄ilaqus can be used for the second half of the month.

Here are some audio files for the pronunciation of the names of each month:

Here’s a table that shows what names of the months mean in x̄á’islak̓ala:

x̄á’isla name	Definition	English name
láisdels	to move back from its zenith (sun)	January
x̄íkʷeliɫa	time people are out of food and clean out everything	February
ḡiḡáuyala	a bit of north wind comes every morning	March
záxʷilaqus	oolichan month	April
q̓ʷáx̄ilaqus	growing month	April
qápilaqus	spring salmon month	May
hísilaqus	sockeye start coming in	June
k̓ápilaqus	humpback salmon month	July
ḡʷáx̄ilaqus	month when dog salmon spawn	August
zexʷiláqus	coho salmon month	September
ḡʷális	ready (finished) on the beach	October
c̓úx̄ʷelisa	(rotten fish) washes away on beaches	November
c̓u’énx̄’id	to become winter	December

The months from May to September are based on the five species of salmon that run in the Kitimat Valley. Here’s how they relate to each other:

x̄á’isla name	English name	x̄á’isla Month
qábes	spring salmon	qápilaqus
hísen	sockeye salmon	hísilaqus
k̓áp̓i	pink salmon	k̓ápilaqus
ḡʷáx̄enis	dog salmon	ḡʷáx̄ilaqus
zu’én	coho salmon	zexʷiláqus

Notice that with záxʷilaqus (April) and zexʷiláqus (September), the accent shifts. In záxʷilaqus, the accent is on the first syllable, but in zexʷiláqus, the accent is on the second last syllable.