[2] It refers specifically to six families historically residing on southern Vancouver Island, in the area now known as Greater Victoria.

The traditional territory of the Lekwungen encompasses most of what is now the Greater Victoria area, as well as the nearby Discovery, Chatham, and San Juan islands.

[5]There is evidence of a fortified village existing at Finlayson Point in Beacon Hill Park before the arrival of Europeans.

The Coast Salish traditionally lived in bighouses, large rectangular communal houses of cedar planks, adorned with carved and jointed totem posts.

[6][better source needed] A major Coast Salish seaport community called Sitchanalth was located in the area now known as Willows Beach in Oak Bay, British Columbia.

[7] Sitchanalth was destroyed by a tsunami[7] related to a major earthquake along the Devils Mountain Fault that occurred around 930 A.D.[8] The death toll from the earthquake and resulting tsunami have been described as "catastrophic" with a small group of survivors relocating from Willows Beach to what is now the Inner Harbour area of Victoria, British Columbia.

[15]: 20  Over time, the term “Esquimalt” came to be applied more generally to the harbour area and to a group of people living at the village known as Kalla,[16] located on the northern shore of Plumper Bay (archaeological site DcRu-36).