xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) A Living Culture
Richmond, BC
Who we are
We are xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking people whose identity is rooted in these lands and waters. Our presence is continuous and living, carried through carving, weaving, ceremony and everyday life. This trail invites visitors to travel through parts of our traditional territory that include the shoreline near the river, the international arrival routes at the airport and public spaces throughout the city where Coast Salish art now stands in places where our ancestors once gathered.
The name xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) relates back to the flowering plant, məθkʷəy̓, which once abundantly grew throughout Musqueam territory. There is a sχʷəy̓em̓ that has been passed on from generation to generation that explains how we became known as xʷməθkʷəy̓əm – place where the məθkʷəy̓ grows.
To learn more about xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) CLICK HERE
xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Itinerary
Along this journey you will encounter works such as the Musqueam Welcome Figures and the Flight spindle whorl at the airport, monumental gateways like People Amongst the People in Stanley Park and large scale weaving inspired murals like Blanketing in Granville Island & North Vancouver. These artworks are not just installations but active expressions of welcome, memory and renewal. They mark territory, speak to our relationship with salmon and water and reflect how Coast Salish designs continue to shape the urban landscape. This trail is not a recreation route but a cultural pathway. It follows the movement our people have always made across the land and invites you to look at the city through our teachings. Each stop is a reminder that our stories are still present and that our connection to the land is ongoing.
3211 Grant McConachie Wy, Richmond, BC, CA, V7B 0A4
xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Welcome Figures 📍greet international travellers at YVR, blending traditional Coast Salish house-post forms with contemporary artistic expression by Susan Point.
3211 Grant McConachie Wy, Richmond, BC, CA, V7B 0A4
A monumental cedar spindle whorl carved with eagle and salmon motifs symbolizing power, welcome and Coast Salish presence. Astounds visitors as they arrive into YVR International Airport
3211 Grant McConachie Wy, Richmond, BC, CA, V7B 0A4
Four handwoven wool panels by Coast Salish artists that honour the enduring tradition of ceremonial weaving. Blanketing over international travellers as they arrive into YVR International Airport
3211 Grant McConachie Wy, Richmond, BC, CA, V7B 0A4
1580 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC, CA, V6J 5K8
In Musqueam culture, Welcome Figures welcome visitors to our territory. The original poles were house posts and placed at the entrances of our house - right at the doorway inviting you in, welcoming you. Located behind the Vancouver School Board in public plaza.
1580 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC, CA, V6J 5K8
The Male Welcome Figure stands outside the Vancouver School Board Education Centre on West Broadway, paired with the Female Welcome Figure at his side
1457 Anderson St, Vancouver, BC, CA, V6H
This is where the blanketing begins. Musqueam weaver Debra Sparrow conceived a series designed to wrap Vancouver in traditional Coast Salish patterns — reclaiming, site by site, the visual landscape of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ancestral territory. The Granville Street Bridge pillars are the first chapter of the on Granville Island
1055 Canada Pl, Vancouver, BC, CA, V6C 0C3
The copper figures running the length of the Vancouver Convention Centre corridor have their arms outstretched for a reason. Each one is rendered in the Salish gesture of welcome — water-jet cut from quarter-inch copper sheet, spaced along carved and painted cedar panels in a pattern drawn from Salish basket weaving.
Brockton Point, Vancouver, BC, CA, V6G 1Z4
Stanley Park sits on spapəy̓əq — xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ancestral territory, once a village, cleared and remade as a public park in 1888. Susan Point's three gateway posts at Brockton Point were installed in 2008 as the first representation of Coast Salish art at this site.
15 Wallace Mews, North Vancouver, BC, CA, V7L 0B2
The blanketing continues. If you started at the Granville Street Bridge pillars, this is the fifth chapter — and the most significant. Three tremendous coast salish artists created this triptych at the North Vancouver Shipyards in 2021 — three panels telling the story of the Great Vancouver Fire of 1886, and the Indigenous people who brought survivors to safety across the Burrard Inlet. A history the city forgot. These walls remember it.
5435 Sperling Ave, Burnaby, BC, CA, V5E 2L8
Most visitors to Deer Lake Park walk past both of these works without realising they're there. That's part of the point. Vitality is a carved sculpture on the open hillside — a Coast Salish family in cedar and basalt, the rolling form echoing the landscape around it.
5435 Sperling Ave, Burnaby, BC, CA, V5E 2L8
qeqən: House Posts
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