Tum-tumay-whueton
Belcarra Peninsula, Port Moody
t蓹mt蓹m铆x史t蓹n is a s蓹lilw蓹ta蕯涩 (Tsleil-Waututh) ancestral village site located on the Belcarra Peninsula in present day Belcarra Park. This 丑蓹苍虚辩虚蓹尘颈苍虚蓹尘虚&苍产蝉辫;(Hun鈥檘umyi鈥檔um) place name has multiple meanings including 鈥渓ots of land鈥 and 鈥渢he biggest place for all the people.鈥
From time out of memory t蓹mt蓹m铆x史t蓹n has been the primary winter village of the s蓹lilw蓹ta蕯涩 people, and is integral to the identity of the nation. The village is said to have been home to so many people that when ducks flew low overhead the peoples鈥 collective shouts would stun them out of the air to be gathered from the ground. People at t蓹mt蓹m铆x史t蓹n depended on marine and intertidal areas for supplying a large amount of their food; they fished for salmon, smelt, and herring, and gathered mussels, clams, and urchins. They also hunted black tailed deer and black bears. Archaeologists excavating at t蓹mt蓹m铆x史t蓹n have found wood working tools, as well as Salish wool dog and mountain goat bones, suggesting that people living in the village were heavily involved in wood carving and weaving blankets.
t蓹mt蓹m铆x史t蓹n has important ties to numerous events in s蓹lilw蓹ta蕯涩 history and has associations with oral histories, great warriors, high chiefs or si蕯em虛, as well as spiritual healers or 拧x史ne蕯em. Unfortunately, illness introduced by Europeans took its toll on t蓹mt蓹m铆x史t蓹n. Between 1853-1861, s蓹lilw蓹ta蕯涩 people stopped using it as a winter village, and began living in other places. Despite lack of permanent residence, they have continued to use the site into the present.
Additional information
- Bouchard, Randy, and Dorothy Kennedy. 1986 Squamish Nation Land Use And Occupancy. Report submitted to Squamish Nation Chiefs and Council, BC Indian Language Project, Victoria, British Columbia.
- Carter, Anthony. 1966 Somewhere Between. Anthony Carter, Vancouver.
- George, Gabriel. 2018 Personal Communication. Tsleil-Waututh Nation 3075 Takaya Drive North Vancouver, BC.
- MacDonald, Colleen, Diana Drake, John Doerksen, and Michael Cotton. 1998 Between Forest and Sea: Memories of Belcarra, Belcarra Historical Group, Belcarra B.C.
- Matthews, John S. 1955 Conversations with Khatsahlano. Compiled by The City Archivist Vancouver, British Columbia.
- Morin, Jesse. 2015 Tsleil-Waututh Nation鈥檚 History, Culture and Aboriginal Interests in Eastern Burrard Inlet (Redacted Version). Report prepared for Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Toronto, Ontario. Accessed online August 5, 2015,