Squamish history is the series of past events, both passed on through oral tradition and recent history, of the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), a people indigenous to the southwestern part of British Columbia, Canada. Prior to colonization, they recorded their history orally as a way to transmit stories, law, and knowledge across generations. No writing system was ever created until the 1970s and was based on the Latin alphabet. Most of their history was passed down from one generation to the next. It was considered the responsibility of knowledgeable elders, and also considered very respectable to do so.
In recent history that goes back 200 years, their history includes the European discovery of North America and subsequent colonization of the continent. After the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, a massive influx of foreign settlers was brought into their traditional territory and drastically changed their way of life. Policies conducted by the government included the founding and enforcement of the Residential schools on Squamish children, fighting for their rights and land, and their work in restoring their culture.
Oral history Squamish oral history traces back to "founding fathers" of their people. An aged-informant of the Squamish people named Mel̓ḵw’s, said to be over 100 years old, was interviewed by Charles Hill-Tout in 1897. He recited oral history on the origins of the world, and talked about how "water was everywhere". But the tops of the mountains came out of the sea and land was formed. The first man to appear was named "X̱i7lánexw".Bouchard, Randy & Nancy K. Turner, Squamish Indian Land Use and Occupancy. (British Columbia Indian Language Project 1976), p2 He was given a wife, an adze, and a salmon trap. X̱i7lánexw and his wife populated the land and the Squamish descend from these ancestors. Dominic Charlie told a similar story in 1965 about the origins of his people.Khatsahlano, August Jack and Charlie, Dominic. Squamish Legends: The First People. Oliver N. Wells, June 1966. p16
Their oral history talks about the Great Flood also. In a story said to happen at Chʼiyáḵmesh (which is where the name of the Cheakamus River comes from), in the Squamish Valley, a man who survived the flood was walking down the river, feeling depressed about the loss of his people from the flood. Then the Thunderbird helped him and gave him food. He continued down the river, with his food gathered by the Thunderbird, when the Thunderbird told him where to stay, and that he would give him a wife. That is where the people of Chʼiyáḵmesh came from.Khatsahlano, August Jack and Charlie, Dominic. Squamish Legends: The First People. Oliver N. Wells, June 1966. p13.Clark, Ella E. Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest. University of California Press, 2003. . p.46. In another story of the first ancestors, two men first appeared at Chekw’élhp and Sch’enḵ,Clark, Ella E. Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest. University of California Press, 2003. . INSERT p.19.Khatsahlano, August Jack and Charlie, Dominic. Squamish Legends: The First People. Oliver N. Wells, June 1966. p20. located at what is now known as Gibsons, British Columbia. The first man to appear here was Tseḵanchtn, then the second man appeared named Sx̱eláltn. The people repopulated the land with large families and many Squamish people claim descent from these ancestors.Bouchard, Randy & Nancy K. Turner, Squamish Indian Land Use and Occupancy. (British Columbia Indian Language Project 1976), p284
Stories
Transformers A central part of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh history in their oral culture is the stories of supernatural deities often called The Transformers. These Transformers, were three brothers, sent by the Creator or keke7nex siyam. These three beings had supernatural powers, often using them to "transform" individuals into creatures, stone figures, or other supernatural entities.
The First One In a story told by Dominic Charlie in 1965, he related about the first origins of his people. Their very first ancestor was a man named X̱i7lánexw , translated as The First One. He was born in a village near Squamish, British Columbia. X̱i7lánexw did not know that his wife was with child, but he knew that someone or something was coming. He knew because of a bird that goes ahead of three supernatural men. These three men, called the Transformers, told the Raven, "You go tell everybody we are coming." The first man understood the bird and he responded by getting ready with his canoe. Near the mouth of the Cheakamus River, is a small mountain, and a little bay that fit his canoe. He tied his canoe here and took out his pole, a long shaft used to pull along the river. He put moss around the pole, then placed the pole down. So when the fish touch the pole, their slime was wiped on the moss. He knew that the Transformers were coming further down river. He would grab the pole and wait for a fish to touch it, then pull out the pole and see where the salmon touched. He took the slime and put it on a wooden plate and put his pole down again. Then he heard the three brothers coming. Then the apocalypse came.
The Transformer brothers also knew where he was, but he didn't look and just held his pole steady. The brothers came and landed on the side of the canoe. They asked the man, "What are you doing?" He responded, "Oh, you are my grandchildren. This here, this is my food that I am going to feed you with." He told the three men, "I have a house right here, right there in that little bay. You bring your canoe over and come up ashore." He pulled up his pole and had a lot of the moss ready. In the house, he had a big fire and a mountain of rock underneath, already hot. He took some sticks and grabbed the hot rocks and put them in a bowl that was filled with water. When the rocks were dropped in, the water began to boil. He took the boiling water and placed the moss inside and then made soup. He told the men to have a seat on his bench with his big hyu7kem plate. This was the first hyu7kem plate made because he knew these men were coming. It made this plate really fancy, and fed them with three Mountain Goat horn spoons. The three men ate the moss.
His wife was always rolling around in pain, and X̱i7lánexw said to the men, whom he called his grandchildren: "I don't know what is wrong with my wife grandchildren." The lead man knew what was wrong, for he was the great Transformer. He knew she was going to have a baby. He told his two other brothers: "You fellows go across and get that tree bark, those green trees over there." He scraped off the bark and then asked X̱i7lánexw if he had a bowl plate and told him to put three rocks in to boil the water. They took the bark of the willow tree, then gave it to the woman to drink. The lead brother told his younger brothers: "You better take your grandfather outside", which they did while the oldest brother stayed with X̱i7lánexw 's wife. Not long after, they heard a baby's cry. He fixed the baby up and taught the woman how to take care of it, and told him about the medicine. He told the man when he came to him, that he had a baby boy. The first baby was a boy, and the next a girl. These two grew up together and married each other. The next baby was a girl, then a boy, and these did the same. This is where all the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh came from.
The Defiant One
The most well known story is of Slhx̱i7lsh or Siwash Rock. The story passed down tells of a man committed to his marriage, who trained for the coming of his future child by taking morning swims in the water near Ambleside Park in what is now West Vancouver. During his lap returning, the Transformers in their canoe blocked his passage. They told him he had to move and that he could not pass, but his determination told him he would do what he must for his wife and future child. The Transformers were amazed at his defiance of them as the emissaries of the Great Spirit, and decided upon his fate. He would be transformed into the rock outcropping for all future generations to remember his sacrifice for cleanliness and fatherhood. His wife was also transformed into a rock, which is nearby Siwash Rock.
The Two Sisters
A story tells about two sisters who were daughters of a highly respected siyam or leader of the people. This siyam was at war with a northern people. But the two sisters convinced him to end the war with the northern people. The Transformers saw this act of selflessness and transformed them into two sister mountains for the people to remember their deed. These two mountains are the Lions of Vancouver.
The Two-Headed Serpent and the Serpent Slayer In the valley along the Squamish River, there was a large two-headed serpent called Sínulhḵay̓ which terrorized the people, eating them and making a loud screeching noise.Dunlop, Herbert Francis. Andy Paull: As I Knew Him and Understood His Times (Vancouver: The Order of the O.M.I. of St. Paul's Province, 1989). In the village of Stá7mes, a young man named Xwechtáal had recently become married and was enjoying the days after the big feast, when his father told him, "You must go kill that serpent." Xwechtáal protested that he had only recently been married, and wanted to enjoy his time with his new wife, start a family, and live his life. He told his father he would not go. The next morning, his father came to his bed and threw glacier cold water on him, waking him up. He told his son again, "You will go kill that two-headed serpent" and this time, Xwechtáal agreed. He told his wife he would only be gone four days, and that she should wait for him until his return.
Following the tracks of Sínulhḵay̓, Xwechtáal could not follow its trail directly because of the power and energy emitted by the serpent wherever it slithered. Seeing where the trail lead, he came to the rock face of the Stawamus Chief Mountain. Xwechtáal saw the serpent's path as it went straight up the face of the cliff, leaving a black line of destruction. The man continued through the mountain pass, following the serpent from lake to lake, and creek to creek. While following the serpent, Xwechtáal would train spiritually by taking morning baths in the creeks, lakes and rivers to cleanse himself and become stronger. Day by day, he would sacrifice more of himself, eating a bit less, and sleeping with less blankets and clothes. All of this was part of his training to kill the serpent.
Finally, he followed the serpent to lake in the mountains. He watched and saw that, while one of the serpents two heads would be awake during daylight, the other would sleep. Then during night, they would switch and the other would stay awake. Training and sacrificing more, Xwechtáal prayed for the answer to defeat the dreaded two-headed serpent. Then one night he had a vision.
In his vision, a woman came to him and told him, "You will make four sharp spears, two for each head, and apply pitch to each spear. You will make a raft and go across the lake. You will spear one head with two of the spears, as that one falls, the other will awake and you must quickly raft across the lake and spear the other head with the two remaining spears. That is how you will kill the serpent."
When he woke up, Xwechtáal followed the instructions and made the spears and the raft. He moved the raft out onto the lake and paddled across with his spears. Grabbing two spears, he attacked the daytime head. As the head began to die and fall, the opposite head woke from its slumber, angry and distressed. Quickly paddling across to the other head, he speared this head with one spear. Then the serpent dove underwater towards a tunnel deep in the lake to escape, but Xwechtáal took the last spear and nailed the serpent head before he got away.