Passed in 1876, the Indian Act combined previous pieces of legislation on “Indians” in Canada; it does not include the Métis or Inuit. This document “regulates Indians and reserves and sets out certain federal government powers and responsibilities towards First Nations and their reserved lands” (Joseph, 2018, p. 111).

Using the phrase “Turtle Island” when referring to North America comes from Creation or Origin Stories of several Nations (Manitowabi, 2018), and it is also used by Indigenous rights activists” (The Canadian Encyclopedia).

“According to the legend, Vancouver’s twin peaks, now commonly known as ‘The Lions’ were originally named Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwíkn’ (the Twin Sisters) long ago by a very powerful man known as the Great Tyee of the Caplianos” (Space Make Place). The Great Tyee of the Capilanos “ruled over the Capilano Canyon area” and was a “formidable warrior leader” having won many of his battles against other tribes.  

scəẃaθən can be translated as “people facing the sea” (Declaration of Tsawwassen Identity & Nationhood) and their territory includes land in Delta, Richmond, Surrey, Langley, and the Gulf Islands, and the Nation has used the “watersheds that feed into Pitt Lake, down the Pitt River to the city of Pitt Meadows, where they empty into the Fraser River” since time immemorial (Our