Bakwas is the Kwakwaka’wakw name for a supernatural being who lurks on the edges of the forests and near streams, hoping to lure the souls of those who drown or unwitting humans to eat his ghost food, which causes them to become otherworldly, like him. He is the Wild Man of the Woods, the Keeper of Drowned Souls, and children are taught to be wary of him. Those souls captured by Bakwas are condemned to eternal hunger, misery, wandering and evildoing.
