χʷay̓χʷəy̓ was once a large Musqueam village, with several longhouses, and home to hundreds of our ancestors at a time. χʷay̓χʷəy̓ is also an important spiritual site to our people. It’s from this village our ancestors received the sχʷay̓χʷəy̓ mask and teachings; a culturally sensitive hereditary cleansing right.
The area around χʷay̓χʷəy̓ and spapəy̓əq was important for clams, a resource we had little of in the river delta. In the 1880s remnants of our village (8ft deep shell layers), our ancestors, and belongings were dug up by construction crews and used as road bed for the first road around Stanley Park.
The history of this place is told by the Musqueam First Nation.
Lumberman's Arch, Stanley Park
49.30358288585593, -123.13026197351076
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