xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)

Key Resources:

• hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ Orthography and Pronunciation Guide - publicly accessible online

• Learn the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ alphabet - publicly accessible online

• Musqueam Reference Grammar - accessible through UBC Library (learn how to gain access)

In 1997, Musqueam partnered with UBC to promote the development and use of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ through collaborative research initiatives. The First Nations and Endangered Languages (FNEL) program at UBC offers hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ classes at different times throughout the year. These courses are attended by both UBC and Musqueam students.

• Musqueam Language Courses at UBC

The Musqueam Nation did not sign a historic treaty (an agreement to share land) with settlers, which is why in land acknowledgements, you will often hear the territory acknowledged as "unceded." Many other British Columbia First Nations did not sign treaties with settlers. BC has a 'modern treaty process', which seeks to engage individual BC First Nations in a treaty process in the present day. 

You can learn more about treaties in our Treaty research guide. 

"Traditionally we don't think of it as Pacific Spirit Park. It's Musqueam land. It's a Musqueam village site. We occupy it. We live there. We never moved from there. We were relocated to reserve allotments from all these areas and pushed into the 400 acres that we have."

- Gail Sparrow, quoted in Nair, R. (21 April 2019), 'We're still here': Musqueam elder reflects 30 years after Pacific Spirit Park protest. 

In 1984, Musqueam submitted a land claim to the area of the university's Endowment Lands which would become 'Pacific Spirit Park'. But three years later, in 1989, the park was created amidst protests from Musqueam community members.

In 2008, 20 hectares of Pacific Spirit Park and parts of the university golf course were returned to Musqueam through a land settlement with the province. 

Learn more:

cə̓snaʔəm, the city before the city by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (2017).

• Hear the voices of Musqueam First Nation, and learn about their living culture and ongoing relationship with their ancestral and unceded territory now known as Metro Vancouver.

The Musqueam Declaration

On June 10, 1976, Musqueam released the Musqueam Declaration, which describes Musqueam territory, and affirms the rights and title of Musqueam to their territory.

"Our ancestors aboriginal right and our aboriginal right, is to live upon and travel over our aboriginal lands, seas and waters without foreign control or restriction; to utilize, trade, and consume all the resources and products of those lands, waters and seas. It is our right to govern ourselves and our communities, to up-hold and determine our own customs, beliefs, and laws. Neither we nor our ancestors have ever given up, extinguished or diminished our aboriginal rights and title by treaty or agreement with any foreign government or power... We announce our intent to establish control over our own communities and our own resources in order to control, determine, and guarantee our future."

From the 1940s to the 1960s, Farmers from Guangdong, China, cultivated farms on the flatlands along the Fraser River on Musqueam land. At the time, non-Indigenous men were not allowed to be around Indigenous women on reserve, but relationships and interactions occurred anyway. 

"What came out a lot is that different relationships were formed that allowed both the Chinese and Musqueam to thrive as unique peoples, especially during the early 20th century when these two segregated communities were not accepted by the greater society. There was a relationship of respect, so respecting different cultures, different practices." - Sarah Ling, quoted in "Chinese garden on Musqueam land brought cultures together", by Cheryl Rossi for the Vancouver Courier (2013).

Below are resources to learn more about this history.

All Our Father's Relations

(2016). The story of the Grant siblings who journey from Vancouver to China in an attempt to rediscover their father's roots and better understand his fractured relationship with their Musqueam mother. The film features siblings Helen Callbreath, Gordon Grant, Larry Grant, and Howard E. Grant, who are elders from the Musqueam Nation with Chinese ancestry. The siblings reflect on their experiences growing up on the Chinese farms at Musqueam and in Vancouver's Chinatown, and the impact of discriminatory government legislation on their lives. 

Produced and directed by Sarah Ling and Alejandro Yoshizawa ; co-produced by Jordan Paterson, a Right Relations Production.

Respect, reciprocity, and right relations : learning and co-producing stories about the Chinese market gardens at Musqueam

By Sarah Wai Yee Ling Ling. "This thesis demonstrates the significance of the Chinese market gardens that once populated the Musqueam reserve, underscoring the respectful and reciprocal relationships that were formed historically."