Just as the ‘Mainland Comox’ are comprised of multiple independent nations (Klahuse, Sliammon and Homalco) so too, did the ‘Island Comox’ encompass multiple independent groups who shared the same language. The names of only some of these are remembered today, but at one time there were as many as 10 different Island Comox nations. They occupied the east coast of Vancouver Island between Kelsey Bay in the north and Oyster River in the south. They also occupied adjacent islands like Quadra. In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s a number of these Island Comox nations moved southward to occupy lands vacated by their Pentlatch neighbours. The Pentlatch had been involved in a series of protracted wars with peoples on the west coast of Vancouver Island and their population was much reduced as a result. The relocated Comox nations were later joined by other Island Comox groups who were fleeing from the Lekwiltok, who spoke a different, unrelated language, and who had begun to occupy some of the lands vacated by the Comox. A smallpox epidemic in 186 _ further decimated the ranks of both the Comox and the remaining Pentlatch. By the time Europeans began settling in the area, only a small group remained. These populations amalgamated and became known as the Comox.