Visit the Museum of Vancouver
The Museum of Vancouver (MOV) has an exhibition on c̓əsnaʔəm that you can visit to learn more about Musqueam history, culture, and the village site itself. Visitors are invited to:
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Pronounce hən’q’əmin’əm’ words
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View an animated version of a Musqueam story
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“Meet” several community members through a series of recorded interviews.
“c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city aims at ‘righting history’ by creating a space for Musqueam to share their knowledge, culture and history and to highlight the community’s role in shaping the City of Vancouver.” - Larry Grant
Learn more about the exhibition:
- ʔeləw̓k̓ʷ – Belongings: Tangible Interactions with Intangible HeritageBy Reese Muntean, Kate Hennessy, Alissa Antle, Susan Rowley, Jordan Wilson, Brendan Matkin (2015).
ʔeləw̓k̓ʷ – Belongings is an interactive tabletop using a tangible user interface to explore intangible cultural heritage. The table was designed for the c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city exhibition. This exhibition is a partnership of three major institutions in Vancouver, BC, examining the significant ancient village site on which part of Vancouver was built, as well as Musqueam culture and community today.
Searching for c̓əsnaʔəm
c̓əsnaʔəm has called many different things by archeologists and other outsiders over the years. When searching for information on c̓əsnaʔəm, try these keywords:
- Great Fraser Midden
- Eburne Midden
- DhRs-1
- Marpole Midden
Xwi7xwa Library Guide
Getting Started
"Located in the area now commonly known as the neighbourhood of Marpole in Vancouver, c̓əsnaʔəm was first occupied almost five thousand years ago and became one of the largest of the Musqueam people’s ancient village sites approximately two thousand years ago. Generations of families lived at what was then the mouth of the Fraser River, harvesting the rich resources of the delta.
Over the past 125 years, archaeologists, collectors, and treasure hunters have mined the c̓əsnaʔəm village and burial ground for artifacts and ancestral remains. The land has been given various names since colonialism, including Great Fraser Midden, Eburne Midden, DhRs-1, and Marpole Midden – a name under which it would receive designation as a National Historic Site in 1933. Today, intersecting railway lines, roads, and bridges to Richmond and YVR Airport obscure the heart of Musqueam’s traditional territory, yet c̓əsnaʔəm’s importance to the Musqueam community remains undiminished."
From c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city [archived website].
How to Pronounce c̓əsnaʔəm
The first letter /c̓/ sounds very much like "ts" in the word nuts. Note also the apostrophe which causes /c̓/ to have a slight popping sound. The /ə/ is similar to the "u" sound in "but." The /ʔ/ is a consonant with no sound, like the space in "uh-oh." (Source).
Exhibitions: Musqueam, MOA & MOV
- c̓əsnaʔəm Exhibitions [archived website]Musqueam First Nation, the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC, and the Museum of Vancouver (MOV) partnered on an exploration of an ancient landscape and living culture c̓əsnaʔəm – sharing its 5,000-year history and continuing significance.
- Museum of AnthropologyExhibition focused on Musqueam identity, worldview, language, oral history, and the community’s recent actions to protect c̓əsnaʔəm. Closed January 2016.
- Museum of VancouverExhibition re-examines historical collection of Marpole Midden “artifacts” and colonial display practices of the museum, asking whose home is Vancouver?
Vigil & resistance
Still from Cə̓snaʔəm, the city before the city (2017) a film by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
In late 2011, the Musqueam First Nation learned that a 108-unit condo development was being planned at one of their ancestral village sites without prior consultation with the nation. Not long after discovering the news of the planned condo development, Musqueam learned that ancestral remains were unearthed during an archeological "investigation" prior to development.
This led Musqueam community members, of all walks of life, to physically halt construction by holding vigil at the site round the clock for over 200 days – while Musqueam, the City of Vancouver, the BC provincial government and the condo developers struggled to find resolution.
Documentary:
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.
More:
These Mysterious People by Call Number: BJM R69 T44 2010Publication Date: 2010These Mysterious People details the relationship between the Musqueam and researchers from the late-nineteenth century to the present. Susan Roy traces the historical development of competing understandings of the past and reveals how the Musqueam First Nation used information derived from archaeological finds to assist the larger recognition of territorial rights.
