The land on which I live, work, and play is the traditional, ancestral, overlapping, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish people.
As a settler and uninvited guest, I am humbled to call it home.
Coast Salish collectively refers to a diverse group of independent First Nations across what is also known as the metro Vancouver area.
This includes the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), QayQayt First Nation, Kwantlen, q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen First Nations, kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), and Stó:lō Nation.
The town where I live was specifically home to the Musqueam Nation and hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (hun-ki-meen-um) speaking language groups. Despite their land being taken over, they were active contributors to the community and fishing industry, but were eventually pressured to relocate. Along with the forceable internment of local Japanese and the racist immigration policies against the Chinese, this was a dark chapter in our history that has lasting effects, even today.
Learn more about the Indigenous nations and territories you live on at Native Land and the First Peoples’ Map of BC.
Learn more about the creation of the Canadian Indigenous Flag.