Before the imposition of colonial laws, the Coast Salish had well developed systems of governance that were based on affiliation with particular households, villages, and village clusters. All these affiliations were tied to particular places. Beginning in the late 18th century, colonial forces, such as the removal of people from their traditional lands and dramatic declines in population through introduced diseases, resulted in a host of social changes including the reforming of social-political groupings. Today’s social-political amalgamations of First Nations, while based on ethnicity and language (ethno-linguistic groups), do not fully reflect the complexities of their identities and connection to their ancestral territories. Today, 13 First Nations are listed as having a cultural connection to Xwe’etay/Lasqueti. To learn more, visit https://maps.gov.bc.ca/ess/hm/cadb/.

Absolutely. A common misconception is that First Nations did not live on any of the Gulf Islands on a permanent basis and only visited the islands for short periods to gather foods and materials. This misconception stems from the fact that by the time European settlers came to the islands, Indigenous Peoples had largely been removed and/or left. The belief that this was an empty landscape that belonged to no one (terra nullius “the land of no one”) was foundational to colonization. In fact, oral traditions and the archaeological record indicate that Xwe’etay/Lasqueti was densely populated, with a mix of different kinds of settlements, including very large, year-round villages. This would have been true for all of the Gulf Islands.

Dating the archaeological record and measuring ancient house sizes and locations will never be precise enough to effectively answer this question. However, what we do know, without a doubt, is that prior to European contact in the region, Xwe’etay/Lasqueti was densely settled. There would have been people everywhere!

We are just beginning our archaeological investigations on Xwe’etay/Lasqueti so we do not fully know the answer to this question – yet! Given Xwe’etay/Lasqueti’s ideal position in the middle of the Strait of Georgia, we expect it to have been occupied as soon as sea levels receded after the peak of the last glacial period (the “glacial maximum”) and the island was inhabitable – about 13,000 years ago. So far, we have a site dated to 2700 years ago, and this is the first site we’ve excavated.

About 50 archaeological sites are currently listed in the B.C. Provincial archaeology database. The vast majority of these sites were recorded in the 1970s, mostly after being observed from the deck of a boat during a regional archaeological survey. Few details, other than location were recorded and any information on site extent is a dramatic underestimate. More recent visits to these places, and to many as of yet unrecorded sites, indicate that a range of sites is present on the island: permanent large and small settlements, camps, lookout sites, fish traps, clam gardens, and so on.

Due to introduced European diseases and the subsequent decimation of Indigenous communities, we believe that First Nations largely stopped living on Xwe’etay/Lasqueti in the late 1700s but continued to visit Xwe’etay/Lasqueti until the mid-to late 20th century as part of a resource collecting seasonal round. It is this more recent behaviour that fostered the settler notion that the islands of the Salish Sea, including Lasqueti, were used for resource procurement and not as places for permanent settlement. Today, the island is inhabited by its settler community. However, there are other Gulf Island (e.g., Quadra) with established First Nations Reserves where the age-old connections to particular places continues.

Yes. Xwe’etay/Lasqueti is included in the treaty area of Tla’amin First Nation

Before the imposition of colonial laws, the Coast Salish had well developed systems of governance that were based on affiliation with particular households, villages, and village clusters. All these affiliations were tied to particular places. Beginning in the late 18th century, colonial forces, such as the removal of people from their traditional lands and dramatic declines in population through introduced diseases, resulted in a host of social changes including the reforming of social-political groupings. Today’s social-political amalgamations of First Nations, while based on ethnicity and language (ethno-linguistic groups), do not fully reflect the complexities of their identities and connection to their ancestral territories. Today, 13 First Nations are listed as having a cultural connection to Xwe’etay/Lasqueti. To learn more, visit https://maps.gov.bc.ca/ess/hm/cadb/.

Absolutely. A common misconception is that First Nations did not live on any of the Gulf Islands on a permanent basis and only visited the islands for short periods to gather foods and materials. This misconception stems from the fact that by the time European settlers came to the islands, Indigenous Peoples had largely been removed and/or left. The belief that this was an empty landscape that belonged to no one (terra nullius “the land of no one”) was foundational to colonization. In fact, oral traditions and the archaeological record indicate that Xwe’etay/Lasqueti was densely populated, with a mix of different kinds of settlements, including very large, year-round villages. This would have been true for all of the Gulf Islands.

Dating the archaeological record and measuring ancient house sizes and locations will never be precise enough to effectively answer this question. However, what we do know, without a doubt, is that prior to European contact in the region, Xwe’etay/Lasqueti was densely settled. There would have been people everywhere!

We are just beginning our archaeological investigations on Xwe’etay/Lasqueti so we do not fully know the answer to this question – yet! Given Xwe’etay/Lasqueti’s ideal position in the middle of the Strait of Georgia, we expect it to have been occupied as soon as sea levels receded after the peak of the last glacial period (the “glacial maximum”) and the island was inhabitable – about 13,000 years ago. So far, we have a site dated to 2700 years ago, and this is the first site we’ve excavated.

About 50 archaeological sites are currently listed in the B.C. Provincial archaeology database. The vast majority of these sites were recorded in the 1970s, mostly after being observed from the deck of a boat during a regional archaeological survey. Few details, other than location were recorded and any information on site extent is a dramatic underestimate. More recent visits to these places, and to many as of yet unrecorded sites, indicate that a range of sites is present on the island: permanent large and small settlements, camps, lookout sites, fish traps, clam gardens, and so on.

Due to introduced European diseases and the subsequent decimation of Indigenous communities, we believe that First Nations largely stopped living on Xwe’etay/Lasqueti in the late 1700s but continued to visit Xwe’etay/Lasqueti until the mid-to late 20th century as part of a resource collecting seasonal round. It is this more recent behaviour that fostered the settler notion that the islands of the Salish Sea, including Lasqueti, were used for resource procurement and not as places for permanent settlement. Today, the island is inhabited by its settler community. However, there are other Gulf Island (e.g., Quadra) with established First Nations Reserves where the age-old connections to particular places continues.

Yes. Xwe’etay/Lasqueti is included in the treaty area of Tla’amin First Nation

Before the imposition of colonial laws, the Coast Salish had well developed systems of governance that were based on affiliation with particular households, villages, and village clusters. All these affiliations were tied to particular places. Beginning in the late 18th century, colonial forces, such as the removal of people from their traditional lands and dramatic declines in population through introduced diseases, resulted in a host of social changes including the reforming of social-political groupings. Today’s social-political amalgamations of First Nations, while based on ethnicity and language (ethno-linguistic groups), do not fully reflect the complexities of their identities and connection to their ancestral territories. Today, 13 First Nations are listed as having a cultural connection to Xwe’etay/Lasqueti. To learn more, visit https://maps.gov.bc.ca/ess/hm/cadb/.

Absolutely. A common misconception is that First Nations did not live on any of the Gulf Islands on a permanent basis and only visited the islands for short periods to gather foods and materials. This misconception stems from the fact that by the time European settlers came to the islands, Indigenous Peoples had largely been removed and/or left. The belief that this was an empty landscape that belonged to no one (terra nullius “the land of no one”) was foundational to colonization. In fact, oral traditions and the archaeological record indicate that Xwe’etay/Lasqueti was densely populated, with a mix of different kinds of settlements, including very large, year-round villages. This would have been true for all of the Gulf Islands.

Dating the archaeological record and measuring ancient house sizes and locations will never be precise enough to effectively answer this question. However, what we do know, without a doubt, is that prior to European contact in the region, Xwe’etay/Lasqueti was densely settled. There would have been people everywhere!

We are just beginning our archaeological investigations on Xwe’etay/Lasqueti so we do not fully know the answer to this question – yet! Given Xwe’etay/Lasqueti’s ideal position in the middle of the Strait of Georgia, we expect it to have been occupied as soon as sea levels receded after the peak of the last glacial period (the “glacial maximum”) and the island was inhabitable – about 13,000 years ago. So far, we have a site dated to 2700 years ago, and this is the first site we’ve excavated.

About 50 archaeological sites are currently listed in the B.C. Provincial archaeology database. The vast majority of these sites were recorded in the 1970s, mostly after being observed from the deck of a boat during a regional archaeological survey. Few details, other than location were recorded and any information on site extent is a dramatic underestimate. More recent visits to these places, and to many as of yet unrecorded sites, indicate that a range of sites is present on the island: permanent large and small settlements, camps, lookout sites, fish traps, clam gardens, and so on.

Due to introduced European diseases and the subsequent decimation of Indigenous communities, we believe that First Nations largely stopped living on Xwe’etay/Lasqueti in the late 1700s but continued to visit Xwe’etay/Lasqueti until the mid-to late 20th century as part of a resource collecting seasonal round. It is this more recent behaviour that fostered the settler notion that the islands of the Salish Sea, including Lasqueti, were used for resource procurement and not as places for permanent settlement. Today, the island is inhabited by its settler community. However, there are other Gulf Island (e.g., Quadra) with established First Nations Reserves where the age-old connections to particular places continues.

Yes. Xwe’etay/Lasqueti is included in the treaty area of Tla’amin First Nation