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Land Acknowledgment

ʔəm̓i ce:p kʷətxʷiləm (We welcome you)xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) ancestors have lived throughout and stewarded the Fraser River estuary for thousands of years. The name xʷməθkʷəy̓əm relates back to the flowering plant,&nbsp;məθkʷəy̓, which once abundantly grew throughout xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territory.&nbsp;Our oral history, passed on from generation to generation, explains how we became known as xʷməθkʷəy̓əm&nbsp;– place where the&nbsp;məθkʷəy̓&nbsp;grows.Today, portions of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territory are called Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, New Westminster, Delta, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Surrey, UBC Endowment Lands, YVR Airport and Coquitlam.Visitors are welcome to experience our living culture, listen to our stories and visit xʷməθkʷəy̓əm cultural landmarks.To learn more about the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people &amp; the territory <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.musqueam.bc.ca/">CLICK HERE</a> to visit their website

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) are the Coast Salish people whose ancestral, unceded territory spans the Fraser River Delta and today’s Vancouver.

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Established in 1991, the Spirit Gallery in West Vancouvers Horseshoe Bay is proud to offer a beautiful collection of West Coast Native Art. The blend of contemporary and traditional work includes gold and silver jewellery, unique furniture and home accents, fine art prints, Inuit art and hand carved masks, bentwood boxes and gifts. For those looking for something truly unique in West Coast Native Art, Spirit Gallery can arrange private commissions including totem poles, furniture, panels and doors. Close relationships with renowned First Nations artists allow for the creation of one-of-a-kind pieces that tell your personal story of family, an individual or business. Located in Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver, British Columbia, we are only steps from the picturesque waterfront, an array of charming shops and friendly cafes. We welcome you to explore our website and visit us in person at 6408 Bay Street, West Vancouver.

Spirit Gallery

The Musqueam Cultural Education Resource Centre and Museum features historical objects, contemporary art and a place to share Musqueam history and culture through song, stories, tours and activities. General admission $5. Guided group tours of the land and museum $300 (by appointment) land tours include the Chinese Market Gardens and the special relationship between the Chinese and Musqueam.

Musqueam Cultural Centre

Spindle Whorl (Flight) - YVR Airport

Jordan's Totem Pole - Jordans Flooring Outlet

The Indigenous-owned Wickaninnish Gallery is located in the heart of Granville Island, across the street from the world-famous Public Market in Vancouver, BC, on the ancestral lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. The Gallery showcases the artwork of many emerging and established Indigenous artists and is a favourite destination for local shoppers and international guests to select high-quality, affordable Indigenous art, gifts, moccasins, and hand-engraved sterling silver jewellery.

Wickaninnish Gallery

People amongst the people

Discover elementary to adult education programs, school registration information, and community engagement initiatives offered by the Vancouver School Board.

Female Welcome Figure

Honoring our Matriachs on the Westcoast

This Truth and Reconciliation pole which we may now call a totem pole, is a 44-foot tall red cedar from upper Squamish, estimated to be 350-years-old, or more. The pole was carved together with my son, James Harry. I carved the top half and my son carved the bottom, we met together in the middle, which we worked on together.&nbsp;The symbols on the Reconciliation Pole from top to bottom are displayed as follows:<ul><li>Thunderbird &amp; Mother Earth: represents the Creator (the Great Spirit) protecting Mother Earth</li><li>Coast Salish eye: represents the Creator watching over us</li><li>Frog: represents the communicator passing down traditions to future generations</li><li>Cedar woven blanket: represents interweaving all cultures together</li><li>Buffalo head: represents all First Nations people</li><li>Eagle: represents vision, wisdom and power.</li><li>Bear &amp; Ancestor: represents strength and remembering our history</li></ul>

nə́c̓aʔmat ct - We Are One

The meaning behind the Reconciliation Pole is to unite everyone - nə́c̓aʔmat ct - 'we are one’ as we walk forth continuing to learn and understand what reconciliation means in education. A Reconciliation Pole, similar to a totem pole, tells a story about a person and what they did for their tribe, as you read it from top to bottom.

Reconciliation Pole

Standing prominently at the Canada Customs Hall on International Level 2, the Welcome Figures embody the tradition of Coast Salish hospitality. Carved by renowned Musqueam artist Susan Point, these figures welcome visitors to the territory as they arrive in Vancouver.The frontal carvings draw inspiration from historical Coast Salish house posts, which traditionally stood at the entrance of homes to signify identity and belonging. On the reverse, Point introduces innovative motifs and imagery, bridging ancestral knowledge with her own contemporary artistic vision.Together, the figures serve as a cultural landmark within the airport, extending a Coast Salish welcome to the millions of international travellers who pass through YVR each year.

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Welcome Figures

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Welcome Figures greet international travellers at YVR, blending traditional Coast Salish house-post forms with contemporary artistic expression by Susan Point.

A Coast Salish Welcome

Out of the Silence is a series of four large hand-dyed, hand-spun wool weavings created in 1996 by Krista Point, Robyn Sparrow, Debra Sparrow, Gina Grant and Helen Callbreath.These works honour an esteemed and enduring art form among the Coast Salish people. For many centuries before European contact, intricately woven Coast Salish blankets were worn or distributed during social and religious ceremonies. The artists chose traditional patterns — including diamonds, squares and zigzags — to honour the resilience of their craft and to signify their identities as weavers.

Out of Silence - YVR Airport

Four handwoven wool panels by Coast Salish artists that honour the enduring tradition of ceremonial weaving.

Honouring Coast Salish weaving traditions

Blanketing the City V: (Rescue) (Aftermath) (Wealth of the Land) is the fifth installation in the Blanketing the City public art and reconciliation series, initiated by xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) weaver and designer Debra Sparrow in partnership with the Vancouver Mural Festival. The project affirms the resurgence of Coast Salish weaving traditions in urban spaces and challenges the ongoing suppression of Indigenous visual culture.The mural is a collaboration by three master weavers from the local nations:<ul><li>The Rescue — Chief Janice George &amp; Buddy Joseph Inspired by the 1886 Great Vancouver Fire, this mural honours the Squamish ancestors who paddled across the inlet to rescue people from the flames. The two-headed serpent Sínulhḵay̓, depicted with a flame-like weaving pattern, speaks to ancestral power and protection.</li><li>Aftermath — Debra Sparrow Facing the city, this wall reflects the smouldering remains after the fire. Blackened silhouettes of buildings sit beneath rising Coast Salish forms representing embers and loss. The absence of weaving patterns symbolizes the destruction brought by colonization, even as Indigenous people offered aid and humanity.</li><li>The Wealth of the Land — Angela George This mural speaks to resurgence and the enduring wealth of the land and waters. Weaving designs ripple outward like water, representing renewal, ancestral knowledge and the responsibility to create good ripples in the world.</li></ul>

Blanketing the City V: The Rescue

A landmark Coast Salish mural series telling the story of the Great Vancouver Fire through themes of rescue, aftermath and renewal.

A Coast Salish mural series honouring rescue, loss and resurgence

Vitality (2010) is part of the City of Burnaby’s contribution to the Necklace Project, a regional public art initiative leading up to the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Winter Games. Each municipality created a work responding to a shared theme through a local cultural lens.Created by Coast Salish sculptor Thomas Cannell, Vitality features a traditional Coast Salish family surrounded by four basalt forms. The figures and stones are arranged in a circular formation, representing the cycle of life and the interconnection between people, land and ancestry.A companion piece titled State of Nature extends the artwork into the landscape with abstract butterflies, deer, fish, birds and local plant forms integrated into iron grates over waterways—symbolizing how life continues to move through and beneath urban spaces.

Vitality Coast Salish Family Sculpture

A two-part Coast Salish sculpture series symbolizing family, nature and the circle of life.

A Coast Salish family sculpture honouring Burnaby’s living history

State of Nature (2010) is part of the Necklace Project, a collaborative public art initiative developed ahead of the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Winter Games. Each Metro Vancouver municipality was invited to respond to a shared theme through a local cultural lens.Created by Coast Salish artist Thomas Cannell, State of Nature features cast iron grates embedded into the park landscape. Each grate carries abstracted forms of butterflies, deer, fish, birds and local flora, placed over waterway drainage and utility channels. The piece draws attention to the way natural life and cultural symbolism continue to move beneath urban infrastructure.State of Nature is paired with Cannell’s companion work Vitality, which features a Coast Salish family across four basalt sculptures, symbolizing the circle of life and community continuity.<blockquote></blockquote>

State of Nature

A series of cast iron grates featuring Coast Salish forms of animals and plant life integrated into the park’s waterways.

Cast iron Coast Salish designs flowing through the park’s waterways

Written in the Earth reflects a foundational Coast Salish understanding: that people, land and spirit are indivisible, and that the landscape itself holds memory and power. In Coast Salish teachings, the world is shared between humans, animals, plants, rocks, ancestors and spirit beings who move between visible and invisible realms, including the sky, sea and underground worlds.The work references the powerful Transformers—ancestral siblings who travelled the land shaping rocks, trees and animals. Through their actions, spiritual teachings were embedded directly into the earth, making the landscape itself a living record.The title was inspired by Musqueam weaver Deborah Sparrow, who after hearing Pierre Trudeau say, “I don’t see it written anywhere that the land is yours,” replied internally: “It is written in the earth. Everywhere we open the land, our history is there.”The piece consists of four symbolic panels, each representing a world culture. At the centre of each is a human face, flanked by birds that signify celestial bodies:

Written in the Earth

A four-panel Coast Salish work symbolizing the inseparable relationship between land, spirit power and human history.

A symbolic expression of spirit, land and ancestral presence

The Coast Salish Welcome Arches at Burnaby Village Museum were created by Chrystal Sparrow (Musqueam) as a continuous and living installation honouring the Indigenous Nations whose lands intersect in this territory.The design features four carved salmon figures integrated into house posts, each representing:<ul><li>Musqueam</li><li>Squamish</li><li>Tsleil-Waututh</li><li>Other Indigenous communities connected through these lands</li></ul>In Coast Salish culture, salmon is a revered life source, central to community survival, ceremony and teaching. Each salmon is accompanied by roe imagery, symbolizing continuity, renewal and the prosperity of future generations. The placement of salmon within the house posts evokes the act of welcoming—acknowledging all who enter while rooting the space firmly in Indigenous protocol and presence.This is an ongoing installation series at Burnaby Village Museum, reflecting a growing and evolving relationship between the site and Musqueam artists and cultural knowledge keepers.

Coast Salish House Posts

Four salmon-carved house posts representing Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and neighbouring Indigenous communities.

Salmon house posts honouring Coast Salish Nations and future generations

People Amongst the People by Susan Point (Musqueam) consists of three monumental Coast Salish gateways installed at Brockton Point in spapəy̓əq — an ancestral village site within what is now called Stanley Park. While millions visit this area to view the totem pole display, few know that local communities were displaced here both physically and culturally. Northern-style poles were installed for tourism beginning in 1924, while Coast Salish visual culture was excluded from representation.Installed in 2008, this work marks a turning point: the first major acknowledgement of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) artistic presence in this highly visible site.The gateways draw on Coast Salish house post architecture—structures that formed the heart of longhouses. They feature imagery deeply tied to this land: weaving patterns, herring, orcas, and celestial figures, all rendered in the Coast Salish visual language of interconnected, non-hierarchical forms. These references speak to the spiritual and ecological relationships embedded in the land, sea and sky.For many, Stanley Park is a recreational escape. For Coast Salish people, it remains a place of history, ceremony, spiritual power and dispossession. Susan Point describes the gateways as “reinstating the Salish footprint upon our traditional lands.”

People Amongst The People

Three carved Coast Salish gateways reclaiming visibility and honouring the original village site at Brockton Point.

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)

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Vancouver International Airport (YVR)

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Cultural Trail

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xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)

Explore Trails in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)

Vancouver International Airport (YVR)

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Cultural Trail

Challenge: Build your Knowledge of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam)

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