The Musqueam people have lived, stewarded, and thrived on their lands for thousands of years, with stories describing the time when the area was just water until sediments formed the land. Musqueam traditional territories are on the west coast, surrounded by oceans and brimming with rivers and life, on the lands colonially known as Metro Vancouver.

Musqueam people welcomed visitors to their land, assuming they came in peace. Upon the first European contact in 1791, Musqueam people traded food and canoes in exchange for copper and iron from the Spanish.

Despite the colonial structures and policies designed to control and eliminate Indigenous cultures and practices, the Musqueam have kept their language and culture alive, with robust language preservation in place and increasing economic autonomy through land claims.

As a non-Indigenous person living on unceded lands, I feel deep gratitude for the Musqueam people and a responsibility to stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. I am grateful for the knowledge and perspectives I have learned up to this point in my life. However, I look forward to deepening my understanding of colonization, the pervasiveness of colonial structures and attitudes, and my role in decolonization.

How to begin unsettling yourself as a non-Indigenous person.

Read my blog about my Land Story and the sən̓aʔqʷ Place Story .