k̓ʷə səlilwətaɬ syəwenəɬ ct - Our Tsleil-Waututh Ancestors

TsuKwalton (Jonas Jones) · Deer Lake Park, Burnaby, BC

səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) · Medium: House Post · Deer Lake Park, Burnaby

The first ancestors were bestowed upon us from the creator. This is how the Tsleil-Waututh people came to be — and why Deer Lake Park holds a story that most visitors passing through it have never heard.

The Work

The first ancestors were given to us by the creator. The first grandfather was raised by the four-legged — growing with his animal kin, the takaya. Learning. Adapting to the ways of the wild. He soon found he was different from those he walked with — forever grateful, but yearning for the presence of another like himself.

He began to grieve. The grief took hold of him, became hurt and distraught. He dove off cliff after cliff until one day he dove deep, swam to the very bottom of the ocean, and collected sediment from our Mother Earth. He carried it back to his camp and rested for the night in prayer — prayer for a companion he could grow with, in hopes of love.

Creator heard him. Creator had pity. Creator gifted us our matriarch.

This is how the Tsleil-Waututh people came to be. This story is now carved into a house post by TsuKwalton (Jonas Jones), standing in Deer Lake Park — on the traditional territory of the səlilwətaɬ people, at a park that visitors from across the region pass through without knowing that the land itself holds this origin.

The title, k̓ʷə səlilwətaɬ syəwenəɬ ct, means Our Tsleil-Waututh Ancestors in the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language. The language is carved into the work alongside the story. Both have been here for longer than the park has had a name.

Know Before You Go

Located within Deer Lake Park, Burnaby. Accessible year-round, free of charge. Use the Trail app to navigate to the house post within the park.

This park also contains two xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) works by Thomas Cannell — Vitality and State of Nature. Consider visiting all three in a single trip to Deer Lake Park.

Best time to visit: Spring and summer when the park is in full growth. The connection between the carved figures and the living landscape is most vivid in the growing season.

Getting There

By Transit — SkyTrain Millennium Line to Burnaby Lake Station, then Bus 144 toward Deer Lake. Or Bus 130 from Metrotown Station to the Deer Lake Park stop on Canada Way.

By Vehicle — Access via Sperling Avenue or Canada Way in Burnaby. Free parking at the Deer Lake Park lot off Sperling Avenue. 20 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

By Bike — Burnaby Lake cycling trails connect to Deer Lake Park. The Central Valley Greenway cycling route passes through the area.

From the VCC: 30 minutes by SkyTrain and bus. From YVR: 45 minutes via Canada Line to Commercial-Broadway, then Millennium Line to Burnaby Lake.

CONTINUE THE TRAIL

→  Vitality & State of Nature · Thomas Cannell · Deer Lake Park · Same park

→  Chief Dan George Welcome Pole · Zac George · Pacific Coliseum · 6.9 km

→  Serpent Slayer at təmtəmíxʷtən · TsuKwalton (Jonas Jones) · Belcarra Regional Park · [distance]