χʷay̓χʷəy̓

Plaque

"χʷay̓χʷəy̓ was once a large Musqueam village, with several longhouses, and home to hundreds of our ancestors at a time. χʷay̓χʷəy̓ is also an important spiritual site to our people. It’s from this village our ancestors received the sχʷay̓χʷəy̓ mask and teachings; a culturally sensitive hereditary cleansing right.

The area around χʷay̓χʷəy̓ and spapəy̓əq was important for clams, a resource we had little of in the river delta. In the 1880s remnants of our village (8ft deep shell layers), our ancestors, and belongings were dug up by construction crews and used as road bed for the first road around Stanley Park."

The history of this place is told by the Musqueam First Nation.

(Please note that this plaque has not yet been presented).

History

If you walk along the upper path, from the parking lot adjacent “Lumberman’s Arch”, you’ll come across an interpretive panel that gives a fuller account of the people and villages that once existed in this area.

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm traditional language is called hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓. Please learn more about the Musqueam Language and Culture department and their work with language learners and educational resources here.

Visit the Museum of Vancouver‘s exhibit: c̓əsnaʔəm: city before the city

Check out the resources at the UBC Library Guide, including videos

Please spend time learning about xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Musqueam territory and places names and use this comprehensive teaching tool, the Musqueam Teaching Kit, created for the public.

There are many places of importance to xʷməθkʷəy̓əm within what we call the City of Vancouver, and as part of Places That Matter via xʷməθkʷəy̓əm community nominations and voting, we are sharing five sites and their stories as told by xʷməθkʷəy̓əm. There are no physical plaques yet, but we hope these stories provide a deeper understanding of the significance of these places.