Grand Hall tour

First Nations of the South Coast of British Columbia

"We have lived here since time immemorial, thousands of years." (Bob Joe, Chilliwack, 1962)

"We know the Creator put us here. We know our Creator gave us laws that: govern all our relationships to live in harmony with nature and mankind; define our rights and responsibilities.

• We have the right to govern ourselves and the right to self-determination. Our rights and responsibilities cannot be altered or taken away by any other nation.
• We have our spiritual beliefs, our languages, our culture, and a place on Mother Earth which provides us with all our needs.
• We have maintained our freedom, our language and our traditions from time immemorial."

"According to the legends from our forefathers ... People dropped down from heaven ... and each one of these people had a specific trade, like a carver, a hunter, a fisherman ... and each one benefited one another to sustain themselves. They traded amongst each other with their abilities."
(Gilbert Joe, Shishalh, 1992)

The distinctive method of grooving (kerfing), steaming and bending a cedar plank to create the sides of a container was adapted to a variety of shapes and purposes, such as the box and bucket seen on the right.

Carved wooden bowls were used for serving food. At feasts and ceremonial gatherings, elaborately crafted bowls held eulachon grease and other special delicacies.

Artisans produced canoes in a range of forms and sizes, used for fishing, hunting and gathering expeditions, and as the means of travel for trade or social gatherings.

These houseposts once stood inside large communal dwelling houses. The figures carved on the posts are thought to represent powerful animals or ancestors.

Before the coming of the Europeans in the late eighteenth century, there were many nations of Coast Salish-speaking people who occupied and used the land and waterways of what is now southwestern British Columbia and the northwestern United States.