Squamish People - Geography

Geography

The vegetation of the Squamish people's homeland is a dense temperate rainforest, formed mainly of conifers with a spread of maple and alder, as well as large areas of swampland. The evergreen trees are a typical British Columbia coastal mix of Douglas-fir, Western red cedar and Western Hemlock. The largest trees of old growth forest were located around Burrard Inlet, the slopes of Sen̓áḵw and the area presently known as False Creek. This abundance in natural resources fueled the Squamish people's affluent culture.

Traditional Squamish territory extends over 673,540 hectares. Squamish settled more permanently into Burrard Inlet to work in the mills and trade with settlers during the mid-1800s. This southern areas of the Indian Arm, along Burrard Inlet, through False Creek then English Bay and Point Grey now serve as the contested Southern boundary. Traditionally Squamish would have passed Point Atkinson and Howe Sound as far as Point Grey. From here, it moved northward to Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast and up Howe Sound. The northern part included the Squamish, Cheakamus, Bowen Island, Elaho River and Mamquam River. Up the Cheakamus River Squamish territory included land past Whistler, British Columbia.

Squamish territory also overlapped with the territories of neighboring indigenous peoples. The territory is shared between the territories of the Musqueam, Tseil-waututh to the south, and the Lil'wat to the north. These neighbouring peoples also have Squamish language names. The Tseil-waututh are Sel̓íl̓witulh, the Shishalh are the Shishá7lh, the Musqueam are Xwmétskwiyam, and the Lil'wat are Lúx̱wels. Roberts Creek, on the Sunshine Coast, is considered the border between the Squamish territory and Shishalh's. The Squamish are culturally and historically similar, but are politically different from their kin, the Tseil-waututh. Through family inter-marriage and the land rights that often came with it, many places for resource gathering were also shared.

Vancouver and adjacent municipalities are located within traditional Squamish territory, making the Squamish one of the few indigenous peoples in Canada to have communities in or near metropolitan areas. Of the 673,540 hectares their traditional territory encompasses, currently less than 0.5% is reserve land allotted to the Squamish Nation. It is on these reserves that most of the current Squamish communities exist.