Land returned to Musqueam by city an important piece of band’s history
The City of Vancouver returned a parcel of land, part of an ancient village site in southwest Vancouver, to the Musqueam Indian Band.
The property, which is a parking lot next to the Fraser Arms Hotel, is part of the so-called Marpole Midden lands, an area of great cultural and historic significance to the Musqueam First Nation.
The Marpole Midden, site of the village known to the Musqueam as
cəsnaʔəm, originally covered 41/2 hectares near Southwest Marine Drive at the southern end of Granville Street. Located in the Musqueam’s traditional and unceded territory, the ancient village and burial site dates back at least 4,000 years.
The donation was announced at a community event held at the Musqueam Cultural Education and Resource Centre Tuesday evening.
“As part of our traditional territory, cəsnaʔəm is very important to the Musqueam people. It has never ceased to be part of our identity as we have a sense of knowing and belonging to our land that is very strong,” said Chief Wayne Sparrow.
In 1991, the Musqueam purchased the Fraser Arms Hotel to protect the portion of cəsnaʔəm buried underneath it. Another nearby plot of land made headlines in 2012, when a developer was excavating it — against the Musqueam community ’s protests — and found human remains. The Musqueam band bought the property from the developer.