The Penelakut are a large (about 920 individuals) Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nation. They live primarily on Penelakut Island (formerly Kuper Island) at the south end of Vancouver Island, as well as Tent Island and Galiano Island.
The name Penelakut comes from penálaxeth', the village on the northeast end of Penelakut Island, once the largest Hul'qumi'num-speaking village in the Gulf Islands. Penálaxeth' means "log buried on the beach", which may refer to the many longhouses that were once on the beach near there.