[1] The Semiahmoo are more closely related to the Lummi and Samish peoples south of the international border, and to the Lekwammen and T'sou-ke peoples across the Strait of Georgia, than they are to the Halkomelem-speaking Sto:lo of the Fraser Valley and of the Fraser's delta to the north of themselves, the Musqueam.

Indigenous Peoples of the Americas were very well organized and survived off the lands which were tied to their Hereditary Chief Names.

Crests or Art presented on poles, Blankets, Designs, and Body Tattoos told stories of Ownership of the Land and Territory from where one belonged.

He did not encounter the Semiahmoo but did describe the ruins of a fishing camp on Point Roberts capable of containing at least 400 or 500 Inhabitants.

This was due in part to smallpox and other epidemics that swept the area as a result of the increasing European presence.

In 1857, British Royal Engineers established their Camp Semiahmoo which was later used as a base to survey the international border.

By the 1860s, Roman Catholic missionaries had a successful church among the Semiahmoo and a gold rush poured settlers and miners into the area.

Reef-netting also became commercialized until a continuous line of traps by Alaska Packers ended their industry in 1892.