As K'we, Mount Stephens was the home of the thunderbird to the Gwawaenuk, who when he descended from the mountain took human form and became the ancestor of that group of Kwakwaka'wakw, whose principal village is now at Hegams, i.e. Hopetown on Watson Island in the Broughton Archipelago, from which a view of this mountain can be seen and is featured in a woodcut by artist Walter Phillips.