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Whey-ah-wichen

Cates Park/Roche Point, North Vancouver

Whey-ah-wichen (Cates Park) as seen from Centennial Park. Photo by Bryan Myles
Sign for Whey-ah-wichen. Photo by Skye Constable.

Whey-ah-wichen, is an ancestral village site located on 蝉蓹濒虚颈濒飞虚蓹迟 (Burrard Inlet), at present day Cates Park. The h蓹n虛q虛蓹min虛蓹m虛 (Hun鈥檘umyi鈥檔um) place name means 鈥渇acing both directions鈥 and 鈥渇acing the wind.鈥

s蓹lilw蓹ta蕯涩 (Tsleil-Waututh) people have lived at and used the site of Whey-ah-wichen for thousands of years before European contact, and afterward until approximately 1869. It is an important site for the s蓹lilw蓹ta蕯涩 Nation. Within a day鈥檚 travel, the people of Whey-ah-wichen were able to access the majority of 蝉蓹濒虚颈濒飞虚蓹迟, North Vancouver, North Coquitlam, and North Burnaby using canoes and trail systems. They accessed these areas as part of their daily journeys to collect the plants and animals they used for food, medicines, and clothing. Remains of the wide variety of animals they depended on are found in the ground at Whey-ah-wichen, which includes rockfish, salmon, goldeneye and mallard ducks, harbor seal, and mussels, urchins, and clams. They also hunted beaver, black bear, wapiti (elk), and mountain goat.

Whey-ah-wichen was initially a winter village but it may have transitioned into a spring and summer village after 1846 due to introduced European diseases. The village had trench embankments and a wood tower that was also a lookout station, allowing lookouts to see past Second Narrows toward Stanley Park.  Various forms of fortification provided extra security for people gathering resources nearby.

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,