The Tsleil-Waututh are a Coast Salish people who traditionally resided in the Pacific Northwest, across British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.
Prior to European contact, approximately 10,000 Tsleil-Waututh people inhabited a vast region. Like many American Indian and First Nations people, their survival depended on a seasonal round, a complex cycle of food gathering, spiritual practices, and cultural activities. They moved across their region, gathering food where it was in season. They hunted, harvested, and preserved foods for the winter season, during which they subsisted largely on dried foods that had been gathered and processed throughout the year.
The Tsleil people congregated in large villages in sheltered bays during the winter. The lands around the Burrard Inlet, which is now part of Vancouver, were the locations of their most concentrated villages. Homes were built from wood, mostly cedar, and featured shed roofs. Some of these homes were several hundred feet long, and divided into individual family apartments, allowing for communal living while maintaining family privacy. Most homes included living and storage spaces, while similar buildings were used for ceremonies, storytelling, and other gatherings. Villages and homes were situated near the water, allowing for easy access to fishing and transportation.
Winters were rich in spiritual and cultural practices, as well as such tasks as weaving blankets from mountain goat wool.
The arrival of European and European-American settlers in the North Pacific region of Oregon and Washington brought significant changes to the way of life for the Indigenous people who had resided there for millennia. Along with other American Indian tribes, the Tsleil-Waututh found themselves displaced and set upon by white settlers and militias. Forced to cede land and resources, many Tsleil-Aututh families were displaced from their ancestral villages and sacred sites, while others died from epidemics and conflicts with white settlers. Eventually, the greatly reduced population of Tsleil-Waututh focused on their core territories in British Columbia, particularly the region around Burrard Inlet and the surrounding waters, where resources were plentiful.
Today, the Tsleil-Wautuh people are largely represented by the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, formerly known as the Burrard Indian Band or the Burrard Inlet Indian Band, a First Nations band government in British Columbia, Canada. They are closely related to but politically and culturally separate from, the nearby nations of the Squamish and Musqueam, whose traditional territories sometimes overlap.
The Tsleil-Wautuh is a member government of the Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council, which includes other First Nations governments on the upper Sunshine Coast, southeastern Vancouver Island, and the Tsawwassen band on the other side of the Vancouver metropolis from the Tsleil-Waututh.
Currently, there are about six hundred members, with fewer than three hundred living on the reserve.
Chief Dan George, an actor and Native rights activist known for his role as Old Lodge Skins in Little Big Man The Outlaw Josey Wales, and for another role as Old Antoine in the CBC television series, Cariboo Country.
Appropriate topics for this portion of our web guide include online resources representing the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and any of its programs, enterprises, schools, medical facilities, or events, as well as those that are privately owned or operated by individual descendants of the Tsleil-Waututh people.
Recommended Resources
The company is an enterprise of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and is made up of archaeologists, GIS technicians, natural resource professionals, certified utility arborists, and other skilled field personnel. Its services include large and small-scale desktop studies, field programs, archaeological monitoring, and education and training programs, as well as a range of geographic information systems services, technical support, and analysis for organizations throughout Canada.
https://inlailawatash.ca/
A partnership of the Musqueam Indian Band, the Squamish Nation, and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the Corporation was established to oversee properties owned by the MST Partnership, in which the three nations are full or co-owners of prime properties throughout Metro Vancouver, currently totaling more than 160 acres of developable land. The Corporation, its partners, and leadership are featured, and its projects are reported on, along with updates and contact data.
http://mstdevelopment.ca/
The Tsleil-Waututh Nation offers spectacular tours of the coastlines of Burrard Inlet in its 35-foot traditional-style ocean-going canoes, in which guides will share legends, songs, and stories. Other highlights include Belcarra Park (Tum-Tumay-Whueton), which has been occupied for thousands of years and was the tribe's large winter gathering place, as well as Cates Park (Whey-ah-wichen), an ancestral village site located on the inlet in North Vancouver. Highlights are offered.
https://takayatours.com/
Tsleil-Waututh Economic Development Department
TWN EcDev is the business and economic development agency of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation. Formed in 2002, TWN EcDev came out of Takaya Developments, which had been established in 1994, and functions as a member of the Management Committee of the Nation and reports directly to the Chief and Council for the Nation. Its responsibilities, projects, staff, and contacts are introduced, and its economic development services and programs are outlined, with links to other resources.
http://www.twnecdev.com/twned.htm
The First Nations band government is considered Canada's most prosperous First Nation community. Its elected chief and council, administrative offices, and departments are featured, along with its laws, bylaws, and policies, community and land use planning, financial reports, and economic development activities. Its cultural and language programs, including its schools, skills training programs, member services, businesses, and career opportunities, are discussed.
https://twnation.ca/
Tsleil-Waututh Nation School (siʔámθət)
The TWN School provides learning programs for children in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12 and is available to the Tsleil-Waututh community and the public. Certified with the First Nations School Association, the school offers land-based learning, with classes spending considerable time on outdoor experiential and hands-on education. It also offers education on the Tsleil-Waututh language, history, and traditions. Online applications are available.
https://twnationschool.ca/
Tsleil-Waututh Nation Skills Centre
A program of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the Skills Centre provides professional services to job seekers and employers. It assists Aboriginal people with training and employment needs, including career pathing, assisting with barriers, resume development, job search, and training programs to secure employment. Its staff works with leading organizations to bring job seekers and employers together. Its programs and services are outlined, and online registration is available.
https://www.twnskillscentre.com/
The Sacred Trust is a program of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation charged with stopping the Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project, which was approved by the federal and provincial governments without the Tsleil-Wautuh Nation's consent. The concerns are that increased tanker and tug traffic in Burrard Inlet will lead to oil spills that will directly affect the TWN community, harming its environmental and cultural values. Assessment reports, research, and a statement of concerns are included.
https://twnsacredtrust.ca/
