X̱wáýx̱way ( Squamish ) or x̌ʷay̓x̌ʷəy̓ (

Halkomelem Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, ranging from southeastern ...

), rendered in English as Xway xway and Whoiwhoi, is a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

village site, located in what is now

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. The village was located on the eastern peninsula of the park, near what is now Lumberman's Arch. The village was home for many Squamish,

Musqueam The Musqueam Indian Band ( ; hur, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the only First Nations band whose reserve community lies within the boundari ...

and

Tsleil-waututh The Tsleil-Waututh Nation ( hur, səlilwətaɬ ), formerly known as the Burrard Indian Band or Burrard Inlet Indian Band, is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation ("TWN") are Coa ...

people, but after European colonization began in the Vancouver area, the inhabitants were forced to re-locate to nearby villages. The village was named for a mask ceremony; thus, the best translation of ''x̱wáýx̱way'' would be "masked dance performance".

History

X̱wáýx̱way is estimated to have been inhabited for more than 3000 years. It was one of many villages on the shores of

Burrard Inlet french: Baie Burrard , image = Burrard Inlet 201807.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Aerial view of Burrard Inlet , image_bathymetry = Burrard-Inlet-map-en.svg , alt_bathymetry ...

around present-day

. The abundant resources in these lands were used by Squamish,

, and

peoples. X̱wáýx̱way was one of the prominent villages in the area, hosting many

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

; each was occupied by a large extended family. By the late 1800s, X̱wáýx̱way was the largest settlement in what is now

. In the village, a big house or

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

measured at 60 meters long and near 20 meters wide. The structure was built with large cedar posts and slabs. 11 families lived in the house, numbering around 100 people. A large

potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Science ...

, a ceremonial event conducted by wealthy families, was held at this house in 1875. This event is also mentioned in the city council meeting minutes, where the medical health officer recommended the destruction of the buildings because of a smallpox outbreak, says Eric McLay, president of the Archeology Society of BC. With colonial British expansion from the east following the opening of the transcontinental railroad in 1886, Vancouver started to boom in population. What is now

was made a military reservation in 1859. The native inhabitants of Vancouver, including those living in X̱wáýx̱way and nearby

Senakw () or (), rendered in English as Snawk, Snawq, Sneawq, or Snawkw, is a village site of the Indigenous Squamish people, located near what is now known as the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 1869 the Colonial Go ...

, were seen as an impediment to development, and were removed to reserves. This process was facilitated by the passage of the

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' (, long name ''An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians'') is a Canadian act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still ...

in 1876. In the 1880s, surveyors and road builders demolished X̱wáýx̱way to create the Park Drive perimeter road. In a 1934 conversation with archivist Major J.S. Matthews,

August Jack Khatsahlano August Jack (Khatsahlano, X̱ats'alanexw) (July 16, 1877 – June 5, 1971) was an Indigenous/ Aboriginal chief of the Squamish people. He was born in the village of Xwayxway on the peninsula that is now Stanley Park, Vancouver, or at ''Chaythoos ...

related to his childhood when he lived in the area. "We was inside this house when the surveyors come along and they chop the corner of our house when we was eating inside... We all get up and go outside see what was the matter. My sister Louise, she was only one talk a little English; she goes out ask Whiteman what's he doing that for. The man say, 'We're surveying the road. My sister ask him, "'Whose road?". Local anthropologist

Charles Hill-Tout Charles Hill-Tout (1858–1944) was an ethnologist and folklorist, active in British Columbia, born in Buckland, Devon, England, on 28 September 1858. In his early years, Hill-Tout studied divinity at a seminary in Lincoln and preached in Cardiff. ...

noted several skeletons were found during an excavation near X̱wáýx̱way. In the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh tradition, the deceased were placed in specially made

bentwood Bentwood objects are those made by wetting wood (either by soaking or by steaming), then bending it and letting it harden into curved shapes and patterns. In furniture making this method is often used in the production of rocking chairs, cafe c ...

boxes, and placed high in trees. Some individuals or families of high social standing would be placed in cedar dugout canoes.

Squamish Nation The Squamish Nation, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw () in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim (Squamish language), is an Indian Act government originally imposed on the Squamish (''Sḵwx̱wú7mesh'') by the Federal Government of Canada in the late 19th cen ...

chief Ian Cambell proposed in 2010 that

be renamed Xwayxway Park after the name of this village.

Footnotes

References

* Barman, Jean (2007)

005 ''005'' is a 1981 arcade game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings". It is one of the first examples of a ...

''Stanley Park's Secret: The Forgotten Families of Whoi Whoi, Kanaka Ranch and Brockton Point''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing. . *Shore, Randy. ''Before Stanley Park: First nations sites lie scattered throughout the area''. The Vancouver Sun, March 17, 2007
Retrieved Thursday, January 24th, 2008.
*Suttles, Wayne. (2004). "Musqueam Reference Grammar." Vancouver: UBC Press. .

External links

Squamish Nation
{{DEFAULTSORT:XWayxWay Former populated places in British Columbia History of Vancouver Squamish villages Stanley Park

History

See also

Footnotes

References

External links