The name Musqueam relates to the grass məθkʷəy̓ which grew in throughout the community of Musqueam. It was noted that in some periods the məθkʷəy̓ grass flourished, and in some periods it could scarcely be found. It was also noted that in some periods the Musqueam people would flourish and in some periods the population would dwindle, perhaps by a plague or war. In this way the people became known as the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm or Musqueam.Their name is one of the ways that their historical connection to the land is highlighted.
History
The Musqueam people are the oldest-known residents of Vancouver. The Great Marpole Midden, is an ancient Musqueam village and burial site located in the Marpole neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. Also known as the Great Fraser Midden, a thousands-year old deposit of skeletal remains, artifacts, stone and wooden tools, artwork and shells. The village itself was known as c̓əsnaʔəm. Formerly there was a second residential area near the current one, maləy̓, known in English as Mahlie. The Musqueam's ancestors, the Coast Salish, have lived in the Fraser River estuary for thousands of years. Their traditional territory encompasses the lands, lakes, and streams defined and included by a line commencing at Harvey Creek in Howe Sound and proceeding eastward to the height of land and continuing on the height of land around the entire watershed draining into English Bay, Burrard Inlet, and Indian Arm; south along the height of land between Coquitlam River and Brunette River to the Fraser River, across to the south or left bank of the Fraser River and proceeding downstream taking in the left bank of the main stream and the South Arm to the sea, including all those intervening lands, islands and waters back along the sea shore to Harvey Creek, and the sea, its reefs, flats, tidal lands, and islands adjacent to the above described land and out to the centre of Georgia Strait. The area of the Musqueam Reserve is the closest Hudson's Bay Company explorer Simon Fraser made it to the Strait of Georgia; he was driven back by hostile Musqueam who had had bad experiences with white men on ships just prior. Chief Whattlekainum of the Kwantlen warned Fraser of an impending attack, thereby saving his life.
Language
Their traditional language is hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the Downriver Dialect of the Salishan languageHalkomelem, and they are closely related to neighbouring peoples of the lower Fraser River. The nearby Kwantlen and Katzie peoples just upriver share the same hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ dialect, while the upriver speak another dialect, Halq’əméyləm. The Cowichan, Chemainus, Snuneymuxw and neighbouring Coast Salish peoples of Vancouver Island and the parts of the Gulf Islands of the southern Gulf of Georgia speak another dialect, Hul'qumi'num, often called the Straits dialect, or Island Halkomelem, but not to be confused with North Straits Salish, which is a group of related dialects to the south. In early 2018 the University of British Columbia installed at its main campus 54 street signs in the Musqueam language, written in Americanist phonetic notation. The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Musqueam dialect, hən̓q̓əmin̓əm is from the Hul’q’umi’num’/Halq'eméyle/hən̓q̓əmin̓əm language family.
Musqueam Indian Reserve No. 4, to the east of Canoe Passage near Westham Island, 57.30 ha.
Sea Island Indian Reserve 3, on the northwest corner of Sea Island, 6.50 ha.
The former Musqueam Indian Reserve No. 1, known in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ as qiqéyt, in Halqemeylem as Qiqayt, and often anglicized historically as Kikait, is now named the New Westminster Indian Reserve and in recent times was allocated to the fledgling Qayqayt First Nation after many years of not being attached to any band.
