Musqueam First Nation

The Musqueam origin story tells of an enormous double-headed serpent (sʔi:ɬqəy̓) which lived in Camosun Bog (xʷməm̓qʷe:m).

[3] The Musqueam people have lived in the Point Grey area of Vancouver, around the mouth of the Fraser River, for at least 4,000 years.

[4][6] The changing river delta prompted its inhabitants to move to the present site of the Musqueam 2 reserve starting approximately 1,500 years ago.

[7] The Marpole Midden is also the location of a sacred Musqueam burial ground which was desecrated by archeologists in the late 19th and early 20th century.

[8] Harlan Ingersoll Smith, an archaeologist from the American Museum of Natural History participating in the Jesup North Pacific Expedition from 1897 to 1900, unilaterally excavated from the midden the skeletal remains of as many as 75 Musqueam ancestors, taking them with him back to New York City to be unceremoniously displayed and researched.

[9][10] The belongings of those buried at the site, including tools, jewelry, carved artworks and ceremonial objects, were also excavated and taken without consultation of or permission from the Musqueam people.

The Musqueam people gave testimonies to federal and provincial commissioners in which they reasserted their rights to live, fish, and hunt on their traditional, unceded territories.

[18] In early 2018, the University of British Columbia (UBC) installed 54 Hunquminum-language street signs at its main campus, located in the Point Grey area.

[20][21] The design of the flag is a white Canadian pale on a teal field, with an arrowhead in the centre depicting a salmon leaping above a net.

Musqueam people with their chief and a Coast Salish house post in the background
Musqueam students Grace Point (left) and Brett Sparrow (right) raise the Musqueam flag at UBC's Point Grey campus, February 25, 2019.