Coast Salish Place Names

This tour is now available via the ímesh mobile app. It is an acknowledgement of Coast Salish territories that takes recognition beyond words, and allows guests to physically experience the landscape and the languages of the local Coast Salish peoples.

The term Coast Salish refers to people from many different communities along the coast of the Salish Sea, near present-day southern British Columbia, Washington, and northern Oregon. Prior to colonial governments imposing boundaries on these communities and their membership, people identified themselves according to their family relationships and the villages where they lived.

Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby campus is located on the traditional territories of four Coast Salish First Nations: The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem). These nations have a spiritual, cultural, and economic connection to this land that spans thousands of years, and they have marked the land with many named places. These place names embody stories that connect people, animals, the supernatural, villages, mountains, bodies of water, and entire territories. These places represent the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language spoken by the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) peoples, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Snichim spoken by the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) people.

We are deeply indebted to Dr. Rudy Reimer (Yumks), a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh archaeologist and SFU Faculty member, and Mr. Gabriel George, a prominent community leader and Manager of Language and Culture at səlilwətaʔɬ Nation, for their guidance, support, and generosity on this project. We are deeply grateful to these two individuals for sharing their knowledge of the landscape, and of their respective languages with us.

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish)

səlilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)