By: Ella Pendlington, SFU Student

The phrase “Beautiful British Columbia,” the slogan stamped on all BC license plates, is often used to describe BC. From the Pacific Coast to the Rocky Mountains, the landscapes here are no doubt stunning. What is now known as BC exists on unceded land that has been cared for by Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial. Greater Vancouver is located on the Coast Salish territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen), q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), Qayqayt, Semiahmoo, sc̓əwaθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen), and Stó:lō Peoples. But overwhelmingly, regions and landmarks in BC are known by colonial names, rather than their Indigenous ones. 

The importance of decolonization

Colonialism in Canada has brought prejudicial legislation and continues to threaten Indigenous ways of being. The genocide against Indigenous Peoples contributed to targeted acts of Indigenous linguistic erasure, from the Indian Act’s prohibition of Indigenous dance and ceremonies, to residential schools, in addition to the false notion that English and the written word were superior . 

Oral history involves the passing of history and knowledge to new generations through speech. In many Indigenous traditions, this is often done by highly respected individuals in communities like Elders and knowledge keepers. Land acknowledgements, for example, are a practice in oral history. They teach recognition and respect of land occupancy, Indigenous history, and cultures, which allows for deeper connection to place and home.  

For settlers, decolonization can begin with learning more about this connection, and taking steps to amplify Indigenous voices, storytelling, and languages. One way is to replace colonial language used in daily life, by actively learning and incorporating Indigenous perspectives in their place. The First Peoples Map of BC is a resource that allows people to learn more about Indigenous Nations, place names, and their pronunciations. SFU also has a Host Nation Pronunciation Guide, and the ímesh mobile app, developed by the Bill Reid Centre. The app includes a Coast Salish place names walk and an Indigenous art walk of SFU’s Burnaby campus.

Indigenous languages are alive

As documented by the Canadian Language Museum, there are eight Indigenous language families in Canada, which are distinct languages that descend from a common language. They are: Inuit-Yupik-Unangan, Na-Dené, Algonquian, Iroquoian, Siouan, Salishan, Wakashan, and Tsimshian. There are also three unclassified languages (those which are isolated) — Haida, Ktunaxa, and Beothuk. Salishan, Wakashan, and Tsimshian make up the three families of the Pacific Northwest.  

While some languages have large speaker counts — like Cree (around 96,750) and Inuit languages (around 40,000), many Indigenous languages may no longer have many speakers or be frequently spoken. However, it is a misconception that Indigenous languages are no longer alive. “Linguists consider a language to be extinct when it no longer has fluent native speakers. This does not mean that all traces of the language have disappeared,” writes the Canadian Language Museum. Beothuk is one such language. “There may still be people who can passively understand the language or people who are trying to learn to speak it. Fragments of the language may also be preserved in songs or fixed phrases such as greetings.” The term “sleeping” has been suggested in place of extinction because it “acknowledges the potential for the language to be revived.” 

Indigenous place names celebrate the connection between Indigenous Peoples and the natural world that is rooted in respect and reciprocity. In the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language (pronounced HUN-kuh-MEE-num), Musqueam, spelt xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, translates roughly to “place where the məθkʷəy̓ grows.” məθkʷəy̓ is a type of flowering plant, pronounced muth-kwey. Squamish, spelt Sḵwx̱wú7mesh in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim (Squamish language, pronounced SNAY-chim), translates roughly to “mother of the wind” and “people of the sacred water.” Tsleil-Waututh is spelt səlilwətaɬ. In hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, səlilwətaɬ translates roughly to “People of the Inlet.” 

Both hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim are in the Salishan language family. These are historically oral, and writing systems were only recently introduced using the North American Phonetic Alphabet, which is adapted from the Latin alphabet. Special characters and accents are used to accommodate distinct sounds, such as the glottal stop. Others, like Inuit languages, have their own writing systems.

The following list presents Indigenous names and histories of five locations in the Lower Mainland. It’s important to note that many areas may have different names to different Nations, as many Peoples have historically relocated according to season and environmental changes, so any given land could have multiple distinct histories and Indigenous connections.

Lhuḵw’lhuḵw’áyten, meaning “where the bark gets peeled in spring” (Barnet Marine Park and Burnaby Mountain) 

Pronounced: Thluk-Thluk-Way-Tun

Barnet Marine Park, located at the foot of Burnaby Mountain, is known as Lhuḵw’lhuḵw’áyten by the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (meaning village, community, or Nation). Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and other Coast Salish Peoples have long harvested bark from the lhulhuḵw’ay (arbutus) tree to use, for instance, medicinally, to treat colds and tuberculosis by chewing on the leaves. Lhulhuḵw’ay means “always peeling tree,” and is derived from lhuḵw’, meaning “peel.” 

Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw councillor, Khelsilem, told Vancouver is Awesome, “One of the things about our place-naming culture historically is that a lot of the place names are based off of sightlines from the water.” Therefore, Burnaby Mountain, where SFU’s Burnaby campus is located, is known as the mountain of Lhuḵw’lhuḵw’áyten in Skwxwú7mesh sníchim.  

Leḵ’leḵ’í, meaning “many leaves dropping” or “leaves falling to the ground” in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim (CRAB Park at Portside)

Pronounced: LEK-Lek-eye 

What is now known as CRAB Park at Portside is located along the south waterfront of səl̓ilw̓ət (pronounced suh-ley-l-wut, meaning Burrard Inlet in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓). For thousands of years, Coast Salish Peoples fished, clammed, and hunted along səl̓ilw̓ət, travelling by canoe and gathering seasonally. 

In 1886, there was a fire that began on the downtown peninsula, where settlers were beginning to build their new city on Indigenous territory. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people came to rescue many of the settlers in their canoes, and brought them to the north shore, saving their lives. A descendant of one of these first responders, Kristen Rivers, told CBC about the friendships formed with the settlers: “During holidays, they would have dinners with them or the families would bring treats like cakes and all of that sort of stuff to my great-great-grandmother.” The details of this event are preserved in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh songs and storytelling. 

Create a Real Available Beach (CRAB) was the name of the committee that advocated to make CRAB Park in the 1980s “to establish a Downtown Eastside waterfront park on a vacant site owned by the federal government,” according to advocate Don Larson. In July 1987, the park was officially established. Anishinaabe Elder Veronica is an advocate and member of CRAB. “I have always found the sense and feeling of home,” shared Elder Veronica, “with so much Indigenous community that are there.” 

Xwmélch’sten, meaning “fast moving water of fish” or “the place of rolling at the mouth” (Capilano River and Capilano Indian Reserve No. 5) 

Pronounced: Homulchesan

What’s now known as the Capilano River is located on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh territory. Xwmélch’sten (Capilano Indian Reserve No. 5) is located at the northern shore of səl̓ilw̓ət at the mouth of the river. Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw know the river as “The Place of Rolling at the Mouth” due to the many salmon that swam up the mouth. “Capilano” comes from the name of Skwxwú7mesh

Chief Kiapalánexw, whose successor S7ápelek (Chief Joe Capilano) is remembered for advocating for Canada’s recognition of Indigenous rights and title. In 1906, S7ápelek led a group of BC Chiefs to Britain to discuss their fishing and hunting rights in front of King Edward VII. His advocacy had an influence on consequent Indigenous leaders, including S7ápelek’s great-grandson, Chief Joseph Mathias. S7ápelek is also known as a Warrior Chief, who “travelled up the Xwmélch’sten river to capture Smaỳlilh (Sasquatch) in order to gain its power,” according to Skwxwú7mesh stories. Oral storytelling about Sasquatch, or Big Foot, originated from different Nations across the Northwest Coast, each with their own interpretations of his role and teachings.

Whey-ah-wichen, meaning “facing the wind” in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (Cates Park)

Located in North Vancouver, along the səl̓ilw̓ət, what’s now known as Whey-ah-wichen/Cates Park is east of the Iron Workers Bridge and south of Deep Cove. The village was used in the spring and summer months by the səlilwətaɬ to hunt and gather. səlilwətaɬ people could access much of the səl̓ilw̓ət, North Vancouver, North Coquitlam, and North Burnaby by canoe and trail systems from the site. Found in the ground were “rockfish, salmon, goldeneye and mallard ducks, harbour seal, and mussels, urchins, and clams.” Also hunted were “beaver, black bear, wapiti (elk), and mountain goat,” according to the ímesh mobile app. 

səlilwətaɬ culture is kept alive today at the park. Tayaka Tours, owned and operated by the səlilwətaɬ, and Deep Cove Kayak Centre, co-manage Cates Park Paddling Centre. They offer canoe tours, where groups go out in traditional canoes and learn from guides about local Indigenous history. Since 2001, the park has been co-managed by the District of North Vancouver and the səlilwətaɬ. 

stal̕əw̓ (Fraser River and Steveston)

Pronounced: STALL-oh

Much of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territory is located in the Fraser River estuary. “Many of our members live on a small portion of our traditional territory, known as the Musqueam Indian Reserve, located south of Marine Drive near the mouth of the Fraser River,” reads the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm website. “Our ancestors had many villages and moved throughout our territory, but their main winter village was always located at the mouth of the Fraser River. Nine thousand years ago, that village was səw̓q̓ʷeqsən (Glenrose).”  

The Fraser River is “one of the largest salmon-producing areas in the world” with five species — “st̕ᶿaqʷəy̓ (spring), kʷəxʷəθ (coho), hu:n̓ (pink), sθəqəy̓ (sockeye), and k̓ʷal̕əxʷ (chum)” — harvested, according to the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm First Nation. The south arm of stal̕əw̓ (now known as Steveston, located in Richmond) is particularly rich in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm history. Jason Woolman, manager of Musqueam Archives shared with Richmond News: “As sediment was carried downriver and the delta grew, the location of the river mouth shifted westward and Musqueam moved with it, establishing an extensive village network covering nearly 145,000 hectares that included sites in Terra Nova, Steveston and Garry Point, among others.” 

As settlers began building cannaries in Steveston, the once local xʷməθkʷəy̓əm fishing region became an industry, which displaced many xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people and altered their ways of life. Now needing to obtain fishing licenses, and forced into hard and underpaid labour, Indigenous fishers helped teach Chinese and Japanese labourers their “knowledge of millennia on the river,” Woolman told Richmond News. 

In 1984, under the Federal Fisheries Act, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm man Ronald Edward Sparrow was arrested for fishing with a net longer than his license allowed. Sparrow later took his case to the Supreme Court of Canada and in 1990, his ancestral right to fish was cleared by the Supreme Court. This was a monumental decision as it affirmed Section 35 of the Constitution Act, which validates Treaty rights.

Today, the Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site aims to tell the stories of the Indigenous, Chinese, and Japanese people who lived and worked in Steveston over the years.