Squamish are a First Nations people of what is now southwestern British Columbia. First Nations are Indigenous (native) peoples of Canada. The Squamish lived in the region for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Their traditional territory surrounded the southwestern part of British Columbia, including what are now Vancouver, Howe Sound, and Gibsons. Today, the Squamish live in villages on reserves from North Vancouver to northern Howe Sound. Reserves are areas of land set aside for a particular Indigenous group. The town of Squamish and the Squamish River are both named for the Squamish people. The Squamish belong to a larger group known as the Coastal Salish (see Salish).
Traditionally, the Squamish lived by fishing, hunting, and trading. Their most important food was salmon. Salmon also played a key part in their culture. Every year, for example, the Squamish held the First Salmon Ceremony, in which they released the bones of salmon back into the river.
Traditional Squamish arts include carving, painting, jewelry making, and weaving. The Squamish have a tradition of gathering cedar bark, preparing it, and weaving it, called cedar weaving. They used cedar weaving to make baskets, capes, headbands, mats, and rope. The Squamish lived in villages of large, rectangular longhouses. Each longhouse held several related families belonging to a single clan. Longhouses are sacred to the Squamish and important for ceremonies. The Squamish are known for playing lacrosse and racing canoes. They carve 11-person canoes to race. The Squamish also have a tradition of oral storytelling.
European settlers arrived in the area around 1792. The Squamish were able to trade fur with the settlers and continue living on their own land. The settlers brought many illnesses that harmed the Squamish population. More settlers arrived with a gold rush around 1858 and wanted the Squamish land as their own.
The Indian Act, passed in 1876, is the main Canadian law governing relations between First Nations and the government of Canada. Under the act, the Squamish were separated onto 16 reserves. To form a council for the reserves, the Canadian government asked one person from each group to serve as chief. This role was once passed through families but is now an elected position.
Disputes over land continued as Vancouver expanded. In 1911, Canada passed the Oliver Act, an amendment to the Indian Act, which allowed the government to remove Indian Bands (groups of Indigenous people) living near a city with a population of 8,000 or more. The settlers used this power to move the Squamish residents of the village of Sen̓áḵw, giving them only two days’ warning and burning their homes afterward.
On July 23, 1923, the 16 Squamish chiefs signed an amalgamation, establishing unity and equality among the Squamish communities. Amalgamation is the act of combining or uniting. On that day, there were 412 members in the Squamish tribe. Their number has since grown.
In 1993, the Squamish Nation began to negotiate title to the lands and waters of their traditional territory through the British Columbia Treaty process. In 2003, The Squamish won back rights to the Sen̓áḵw land, also known as Kitsilano Indian Reserve 6. The Squamish Nation has plans to build the largest Indigenous development in North America in the Sen̓áḵw area of Vancouver.
