LIVE SHOW TOUR INFO HERE. New stories, live tapings, special guests, book signings and more. What would you build on a piece of land when al
In 2003, the Squamish Nation won 10.5 acres from the Canadian government in a lawsuit, recovering land that British Columbian officials had seized from them in 1913, razing the local settlement to the ground in the process.
They decide that, given Vancouver's housing crisis, building lots of housing on their recovered land is a great idea. A project that could both meet a basic need for 6000 people (with many units subsidized for low-income renters) and make some money to help people of the Squamish Nation escape generational poverty.
Lots of Euro-Canadian NIMBYs get upset that a First Nations group is building modern housing instead of conforming to some weird noble savage fairy tale ("Why aren't they building longhouses?"). Despite the opposition, the project successfully gets approval and started construction in 2022.
A great case study of landback policy in action; hopefully we see more successes like this in the future.
The mountain was named by a British naval captain in the 1860s in honour of an Italian general who likely never set foot in British Columbia
One of the signature peaks in the Sea to Sky corridor could soon have a not-so-new name.
The Squamish Nation is asking for Mount Garibaldi be officially recognized by its historic Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim name "Nch'ḵay̓" (in-ch-KAY), which has been used for thousands of years.
Nch'ḵay̓ means "dirty place" or "grimy one" and stems from volcanic debris in the Cheekye River that tends to make it look muddy, according to the Squamish Nation.
from the website:
This piece is part of our 2024 annual Charity Bentwood Boxes auction running from November 23rd to December 7th.
"The piece I made for this 2024 season is called, ‘U’s the Best!’ as I used just the U-forms on this piece. They are made from pierced copper sheet with vitreous enamel baked onto them for the rich colour, and as they are my first finished pieces using this technique it’s appropriate that I give them away. This design is a very respectful nod to the UNYA logo, and in my heart, I hope this piece lands up with them in their new building when we raise enough money."
"Prince Harry and Meghan [the Duchess of Sussex]'s trip to Canada continued with a meaningful visit to Squamish Nation.
"'It's a special day for us,' Wilson Williams, the spokesperson for Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), tells T&C. 'I've been waiting to host them in our community. I've been a part of the [Invictus] journey for three years.'
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"Harry and Meghan have 'embraced the moment,' Williams says. This morning, he drove with them from their hotel in Vancouver to Squamish Nation, and spoke to them about his people’s history with the royal family, telling them the story his aunt told him of Chief Capilano traveling to London in 1906 and how King Edward VII did not meet him and his delegation. Capilano 'just left a petition there of our people that signed it, saying that we're still here, please stop taking resources, land, and our rights away. We are here. We were becoming a diminishing people. A lot of our people were being decimated, in certain ways, of sicknesses.'
"A few decades later, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth embarked on a 1939 tour of Canada, which ended in Vancouver. 'Squamish Nation were advised that the royal family would stop,' Williams explains. 'So Chief Capilano’s son carved two totem poles, and they built an arch over Marine Drive. The designs on the arch and the totem poles demonstrated Chief Capilano's visit to London,' he says. 'Our people had a bunch of gifts—when people come and visit, we gift them. They don't leave empty handed, or leave with an empty stomach.'
"But, King George and Queen Elizabeth didn’t stop in the community. 'It was heartbreaking for our people,' he says. He told Harry and Meghan this story as they drove over the Lions Gate Bridge, recalling a conversation he and Harry had in Düsseldorf at the Invictus Games in 2023. 'I said, 'Remember when we were talking about righting wrongs? This is the moment, here today, when we do that.''
"The Sussexes then arrived at Squamish Nation, stopping in the community where his great-grandparents did not. During their visit, they joined in a ceremony. Harry had a drum, Meghan had clappers, and they played music as children danced around them. Their visit 'righted a wrong from the past, and it was a special moment in our community,' Williams says."
Garibaldi At Squamish continues to pitch a four-season mountain resort on Brohm Ridge.
“The timeline depends entirely on how the public and the market perceives this resort and buys into it, literally and figuratively. We’re only five years away from opening, is the hope, if everything falls into place. We’re building good momentum, so we’re pretty confident it’s going to start happening.”
Vancouver City Council has approved the policy statement for the Jericho Lands, which will introduce new housing density to West Point Grey.
The Vancouver Westside has traditionally been a low-density residential area, but that will no longer be the case, with the Jericho Lands development introducing high-rise residential towers to create a new high-density node near the western edge of Vancouver.
After hearing today from roughly 60 public speakers, with the vast majority being local residents in opposition, Vancouver City Council unanimously approved the policy statement for the Jericho Lands this afternoon.
The passing of the policy statement stage is the first major regulatory hurdle of the long-term development project to transform the 90-acre former military installation immediately south of Jericho Beach Park in the West Point Grey neighbourhood.
This is an Indigenous-owned and spearheaded project, with MST Development Corporation — the private for-profit real estate development company wholly owned by the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations — partnering with federal crown corporation Canada Lands Company (CLC) on the acquisition of the parcels that make up the site about a decade ago. [...]
