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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

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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

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

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

Jordan's Totem Pole - Jordans Flooring Outlet

Susan Point · YVR International Terminal, Canada Customs Hall, Level 2 · Richmond, BCxʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) · Medium: CarvingTwo carved figures stand at the foot of the escalators in Canada Customs Hall — before the baggage carousels, before the taxi queue, before the city. They are not decoration. They are a formal introduction, offered in the tradition of a people who have welcomed visitors to this territory for thousands of years.The two Welcome Figures were carved by Susan Point, one of the most celebrated artists of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nation. Their frontal aspects are deeply carved and inspired by historical Coast Salish house posts — figures that once stood at the entrances of longhouses, right at the doorway, inviting people in. The back panels reveal Point's innovations on traditional images and motifs, carrying the form into the present while remaining rooted in its origins.In Musqueam culture, Welcome Figures do exactly what their name says. They extend an open invitation to all who arrive — Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike — and establish from the first moment that you are on Musqueam territory, and that you are welcome here.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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

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

Debra Sparrow · Chief Janice George · Angela George · Buddy Joseph · The Shipyards, North Vancouverxʷməθkʷəy̓əm / Sḵwx̱wú7mesh / səlilwətaɬ · Medium: Mural · Three panels · Installed: 2021&nbsp;Three Nations. Three master weavers. One wall — telling the story of the fire that burned this city, and the Indigenous people who saved it.&nbsp;The WorkThe Blanketing the City series has been placing Coast Salish weaving patterns across Vancouver's urban landscape since 2018. The North Vancouver installation at the Shipyards is the series' fifth chapter — and its most significant collaboration. For the first time, master weavers from all three local Nations worked together on a single public artwork.Blanketing the City was conceived by xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) weaver and designer Debra Sparrow with the Vancouver Mural Festival — born from a clear intent: to affirm the resurgence of Coast Salish weaving on these lands, and directly combat the ongoing systemic suppression of Indigenous visual culture.In 2021, Sparrow invited Chief Janice George of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation and Angela George of the səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation to collaborate. Together with Buddy Joseph, the four artists created what is believed to be the first semi-permanent public art collaboration between weavers from all three host Nations of this territory.The triptych tells the story of the Great Vancouver Fire of 1886 across three panels: Rescue depicts Indigenous first responders bringing people to safety across the Burrard Inlet — a history largely absent from the city's official narrative. Aftermath holds the moment after — the landscape, the loss. Wealth of the Land looks forward, to the enduring abundance of this territory and the Nations' relationship to it.Watch and learn more about the installation and story behind this work, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://youtu.be/d_tXITBPm1A?si=T2UGGXJgDQW5A1TH">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;Know Before You GoOutdoors at the Shipyards in Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver. Accessible year-round, free of charge. Walk the full length of all three panels to take in the triptych as a complete narrative sequence.Best time to visit: Weekday mornings. Panels face east — morning light is best for photography. The Shipyards is busy on weekends, particularly during summer Friday Night Market.&nbsp;Getting ThereBy SeaBus — The most direct and scenic route. SeaBus from Waterfront Station — 12-minute crossing to Lonsdale Quay, then 5-minute walk north along the waterfront. The crossing travels through the traditional waters of all three Nations represented in this work.By Transit — From Lonsdale Quay, Bus 228 or 229 toward Lower Lonsdale.By Vehicle — Cross Second Narrows or Lions Gate Bridge, follow signs to Lower Lonsdale. Paid parking at the Shipyards. SeaBus strongly recommended on weekends.By Bike — The Spirit Trail cycling and walking path runs directly through the Shipyards.From the VCC: SeaBus from Waterfront Station — 12 minutes by water. One of the most scenic connections on the full Trail.From YVR: Canada Line to Waterfront, then SeaBus. Approximately 40 minutes.&nbsp;CONTINUE THE TRAIL→&nbsp; Blanketing the City — Granville Island · Debra Sparrow · Granville Street Bridge · 8 km→&nbsp; People Amongst the People · Susan Point · Brockton Point, Stanley Park · 7 km→&nbsp; Human Spirit · Susan Point · Vancouver Convention Centre · 9 km

Blanketing the City V: The Rescue

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.

A Coast Salish mural series honouring rescue, loss and resurgence

<h3>Thomas Cannell · Deer Lake Park, Burnaby, BC</h3><h3>xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) · Medium: Carving, Basalt Sculpture &amp; Metalwork · Necklace Project · Installed: 2010</h3>A Musqueam artist was asked to reflect Burnaby's past. He went to the park with his family first — and let what he found there shape everything.&nbsp;<h3>The Works</h3>Deer Lake Park sits in the traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. In 2006, Coast Salish sculptor Thomas Cannell was commissioned here as part of the Necklace Project — a multi-city initiative conceived ahead of the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Winter Games, in which each Metro Vancouver municipality created a unique, locally interpreted artwork around a shared theme. What Cannell made is not one piece but two — companion works that together tell a complete story about land, life, and the enduring presence of Musqueam culture on this territory.Vitality is the larger of the two — a carved sculpture presenting a traditional Coast Salish family amid four basalt stones, conveying the circle of life through traditional Coast Salish imagery. The rolling form mirrors the landscape of Deer Lake Park itself, the hills, the energy of families gathered there.In Cannell's own words: "After the initial visit to Deer Lake Park with my own family, I was thrilled by all of the families there at dance classes and playing on the rolling hills. This has been directly incorporated into my design, through the rolling landscape and the energy flowing through the artwork."&nbsp;<h3>Know Before You Go</h3>Both works are outdoors in Deer Lake Park, Burnaby. Accessible year-round, free of charge. Vitality is a central sculptural installation on the open hillside. State of Nature is distributed across the park's waterway and drainage areas — allow time to walk the full area and find the iron grate installations along the water's edge. Wear appropriate footwear for uneven terrain.Best time to visit: Spring and summer when the park's flora is in full growth — the relationship between the artwork and the living landscape is most apparent in the growing season.&nbsp;<h3>Getting There</h3>By Transit — SkyTrain Millennium Line to Burnaby Lake Station, then Bus 144 toward Deer Lake. Or Bus 130 from Metrotown Station to 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. click here for a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/central-valley.aspx">Bike Map</a>Allow at least 45 minutes on foot to walk the full park area and locate both works.From the VCC: 30 minutes by SkyTrain and bus. From YVR: 45 minutes by Canada Line to Commercial-Broadway, then Millennium Line to Burnaby Lake.<h3>CONTINUE THE TRAIL</h3>→&nbsp; Written in the Earth · Susan Point · SFU Campus, Burnaby · 4 km→&nbsp; Blanketing the City — Granville Island · Debra Sparrow · Granville Street Bridge · 14 km→&nbsp; People Amongst the People · Susan Point · Brockton Point, Stanley Park · 18 km

Vitality Coast Salish Family Sculpture

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.

A Coast Salish family sculpture honouring Burnaby’s living history

Susan Point, O.C. · Brockton Point Totem Site, Stanley Park · Vancouver, BCxʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) · Medium: Carving · Commissioned by the City of Vancouver · Installed: 2008Millions of visitors come to Stanley Park to see the totem poles at Brockton Point. Most don't know that until 2008, the people whose territory they were standing on had never been represented there.&nbsp;The WorkThe totem poles at Brockton Point are one of Vancouver's most photographed landmarks. What visitors are rarely told is that the poles are not local — they originate from Kwakwaka'wakw, Haida, Nisga'a, and Nuu-chah-nulth communities to the north, installed as a tourist attraction beginning in 1924. The Coast Salish peoples — the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations — were absent from their own most visited landmark for nearly a century.People Amongst the People changes that. Three monumental gateways by Susan Point stand at spapəy̓əq — the Musqueam place name for the area near Brockton Point, once a village inhabited by xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ancestors. The Park was declared a British military reserve in 1863 and remade as a public park in 1888, facilitating the removal and eviction of its inhabitants in 1931.Installed in 2008, Susan Point's gateways are the first representation of Coast Salish art at this site. They are, as Point herself has described them, "reinstating the Salish footprint upon our traditional lands."The gateways are not totem poles. They represent the internal structure of Coast Salish architecture — carved house posts inside longhouses, connected by supporting crossbeams. The exterior planks of these houses were removable, enabling seasonal movement across territories. These gateways are that essential structure — a home in its most fundamental state, ready to be rebuilt.The imagery speaks directly to the land around them. Weaving motifs gesture toward nearby st'it'əwəq̓ʷ (Second Beach), where women once gathered diatomaceous earth to prepare mountain goat and woolly dog wool. A mask dancer alludes to χʷay̓χʷəy̓ (Lumberman's Arch). Herring and orcas are depicted together. Human and beyond-human beings appear in an interconnected, non-hierarchical manner — distinctly Coast Salish, and distinctly different from the northern styles that have long dominated this site.In the words of Musqueam curator Jordan Wilson: "Perhaps they are the footprint of an ancestral home, ready to be rebuilt and made whole."Know Before You GoOutdoors at the Brockton Point totem site in Stanley Park. Accessible year-round, free of charge. Look for the distinctly Coast Salish gateway forms among the northern totem poles. Allow time to move around all three posts and take in the imagery on each face.Best time to visit: Early morning before tour groups arrive. The totem site is busy year-round — weekday mornings are significantly quieter.&nbsp;Getting ThereBy Transit — Bus 19 (Stanley Park) from Pender Street downtown to Brockton Oval stop, 5-minute walk to the totem site. Or Bus 135 from Burrard Station.On Foot — 25 minutes along the seawall from Canada Place. 20 minutes from the Coal Harbour waterfront. Well signposted from the park entrance.By Bike — The Stanley Park seawall cycling path passes Brockton Point directly.By Vehicle — Enter Stanley Park via the Georgia Street causeway. Follow signs to Brockton Point. Pay parking at the Brockton Oval lot.From the VCC: 25-minute walk along the seawall, or 10 minutes by transit. One of the closest major Trail sites to the downtown anchor point.From YVR: Canada Line to Waterfront, then Bus 19 to Stanley Park. Approximately 45 minutes.&nbsp;CONTINUE THE TRAIL→&nbsp; Human Spirit · Susan Point · Vancouver Convention Centre · 2.5 km→&nbsp; Blanketing the City — Granville Island · Debra Sparrow · Granville Street Bridge · 5 km→&nbsp; Female Welcome Figure · 1580 W Broadway · 5.5 km

People Amongst The People

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.

spapəỷəq (Brockton Point) — Stanley Park, Vancouver BC

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

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

<h3>Krista Point, Robyn Sparrow, Debra Sparrow, Gina Grant &amp; Helen Callbreath · YVR International Terminal, Level 3 · Richmond, BC</h3>xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) · Medium: Weaving &amp; FibreFour weavings. Five women. Centuries of knowledge made visible on the walls of an airport.&nbsp;<h3>The Work</h3>Out of Silence does not announce itself loudly. It rewards the traveller who slows down — who reads the patterns rather than glancing past them. Four large-scale weavings by a collective of Musqueam women line the corridor at Level 3, their diamonds, squares, and zigzags carrying meaning that runs far deeper than the eye first registers.For many centuries before European contact, intricately woven Coast Salish blankets were worn or distributed during social and religious ceremonies. Weaving was not craft — it was knowledge, identity, and record. The women who created Out of Silence chose to work with traditional patterns as an act of cultural continuity — honouring the endurance of their craft and signifying their identities as weavers in the most public space available to them.The title is significant. Coast Salish weaving nearly disappeared under the pressures of colonisation. The women who created this work are part of a generation that brought it back. Out of Silence is both a name and a statement.The four weavings are installed alongside Susan Point's Flight as part of the Musqueam Welcome Area — a deliberate pairing of carving and weaving speaking together at the threshold of the country.Take your time here. The patterns in Coast Salish weaving are not decorative — they record history, lineage, and teachings. The more closely you look, the more the work gives back.<h3>Know Before You Go</h3>Located in the International Terminal, Level 3, directly alongside Flight as part of the Musqueam Welcome Area. Viewable from the main corridor. Fully accessible.Best time to visit: Off-peak arrival windows for the most unobstructed experience.&nbsp;<h3>Getting There&nbsp;</h3>By Transit — Canada Line SkyTrain directly to YVR Airport Station. Connected directly to the International Terminal.Non-traveller access — The International Terminal public areas are accessible without a flight. Enter via the departures level. Check YVR's current public access guidelines before visiting.All three xʷməθkʷəy̓əm YVR works share this access route. Starting your Trail visit at YVR? The Welcome Figures are your first step. The Gathering Place in Domestic Arrivals is your fourth.&nbsp;<h3>CONTINUE THE TRAIL</h3>→&nbsp; Flight (Spindle Whorl) · Susan Point · YVR International Terminal, Level 3 · 0 km→&nbsp; xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Welcome Figures · Susan Point · Canada Customs Hall, Level 2 · 0.2 km→&nbsp; xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Gathering Place · Journey Canoe · Domestic Arrivals, Level 2 · 0.3 km

Out of Silence - YVR Airport

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

Honouring Coast Salish weaving traditions

<h3>Thomas Cannell · Deer Lake Park, Burnaby, BC</h3><h3>xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) · Medium: Carving, Basalt Sculpture &amp; Metalwork · Necklace Project · Installed: 2010</h3>A Musqueam artist was asked to reflect Burnaby's past. He went to the park with his family first — and let what he found there shape everything.<h3>The Works</h3>Deer Lake Park sits in the traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. In 2006, Coast Salish sculptor Thomas Cannell was commissioned here as part of the Necklace Project — a multi-city initiative conceived ahead of the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Winter Games, in which each Metro Vancouver municipality created a unique, locally interpreted artwork around a shared theme. What Cannell made is not one piece but two — companion works that together tell a complete story about land, life, and the enduring presence of Musqueam culture on this territory.State of Nature is Vitality's companion — a series of abstract iron grates installed over drainage areas and waterways throughout the park. Butterflies, deer, fish, birds, and flora are rendered in the iron surfaces, visible underfoot and along the water's edge as you move through the landscape. Where Vitality gathers — a family, a circle, a centrepoint — State of Nature disperses, threading Coast Salish imagery through the park's ecosystem. Together the two works ask the same question from different angles: what does it mean to be alive and present on this land?&nbsp;<h3>Know Before You Go</h3>Both works are outdoors in Deer Lake Park, Burnaby. Accessible year-round, free of charge. Vitality is a central sculptural installation on the open hillside. State of Nature is distributed across the park's waterway and drainage areas — allow time to walk the full area and find the iron grate installations along the water's edge. Wear appropriate footwear for uneven terrain.Best time to visit: Spring and summer when the park's flora is in full growth — the relationship between the artwork and the living landscape is most apparent in the growing season.&nbsp;<h3>Getting There</h3>By Transit — SkyTrain Millennium Line to Burnaby Lake Station, then Bus 144 toward Deer Lake. Or Bus 130 from Metrotown Station to 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.Allow at least 45 minutes on foot to walk the full park area and locate both works.From the VCC: 30 minutes by SkyTrain and bus. From YVR: 45 minutes by Canada Line to Commercial-Broadway, then Millennium Line to Burnaby Lake.<h3>CONTINUE THE TRAIL</h3>→&nbsp; Written in the Earth · Susan Point · SFU Campus, Burnaby · 4 km→&nbsp; Blanketing the City — Granville Island · Debra Sparrow · Granville Street Bridge · 14 km→&nbsp; People Amongst the People · Susan Point · Brockton Point, Stanley Park · 18 km

State of Nature

Coast Salish imagery — butterflies, deer, fish, birds, and flora — is cut into iron grates over the waterways and drainage areas of Deer Lake Park, visible underfoot if you're paying attention. Thomas Cannell made this work for the park's own ecosystem, threading ancestral imagery through the landscape rather than placing it in it. Walk slowly. Look down as often as you look up.

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

Susan Point · YVR International Terminal, Level 3 · Richmond, BCxʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) · Medium: CarvingThe Work&nbsp;Most people walk beneath it without knowing what they're looking at. Flight is a monumental work by Musqueam artist Susan Point, installed at Level 3 of the International Terminal. It is presented in a setting of water and stone — materials symbolic of this land — and rewards the traveller who stops to look up.The spindle whorl is a traditional Coast Salish tool used in weaving — a small disc that spins fibre into thread. Susan Point has transformed that intimate domestic form into something vast. Flight is the largest Coast Salish spindle whorl ever created, its imagery drawn from traditional motifs reinterpreted at monumental scale.At the centre of the design is the eagle — a symbol of power in Coast Salish culture — depicted around the image of a man with his arms raised, simultaneously welcoming arrivals and gesturing upward into flight. On the chests of the figures are salmon motifs, representing the Coast Salish people who have lived and fished along these shores since time immemorial.Flight is paired with the large-scale weavings of Out of Silence nearby — a deliberate pairing of carving and weaving, two central art forms of Coast Salish culture, speaking together at the threshold of the country.Know Before You GoLocated in the International Terminal, Level 3, Musqueam Welcome Area. Viewable from the main corridor — look up as you move through the space. Fully accessible. Take a few minutes to pause and experience the full scale of the work.All three xʷməθkʷəy̓əm YVR works share this access route. Starting your Trail visit at YVR? The Welcome Figures are your first step. The Gathering Place in Domestic Arrivals is your fourth.CONTINUE THE TRAIL→&nbsp; Out of Silence · Krista Point et al. · YVR International Terminal, Level 3 · 0 km→&nbsp; xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Welcome Figures · Susan Point · Canada Customs Hall, Level 2 · 0.2 km→&nbsp; xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Gathering Place · Journey Canoe · Domestic Arrivals, Level 2 · 0.3 km

Flight (Spindle Whorl)

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

The world’s largest Coast Salish spindle whorl, honouring welcome and flight

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nə́c̓aʔmat ct - We Are One

Out of Silence - YVR Airport

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