Musqueam leaders and representatives of the City of Vancouver gathered on the city’s west side on Friday to unveil the official signage for a street that has been renamed in the First Nation’s language.
The road, formerly named Trutch Street, now bears the name šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street (pronounced sh-MUS-quee-um-AW-sum), which translates to Musqueamview in English. Signposts bear the English name below the official Musqueam name.
“It’s a great feeling to actually see the name being changed, regardless of the political issue, just to see our language out in the public eye where people are living,” Musqueam elder Larry Grant, who manages the band’s language and culture department, said.
“It’s a really, really heartlifting feeling. Our youth can see it, we can see it, that our language is finally out in the open rather than stifled.”
The street was formerly named after Joseph Trutch, B.C.’s first lieutenant governor, whose policies had devastating effects on Indigenous communities.
Trutch, who arrived in the province in 1859 and became B.C.’s chief commissioner of land and works in the 1860s, was considered an extreme racist.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim called the new name an “important milestone” in the city’s ongoing journey towards truth and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
“The legacy of Joseph Trutch is one of harm. He was openly racist and actively worked to erase the rights of Indigenous peoples,” Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said.
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“He dismissed the very existence of Indigenous title, stripped communities of their land, reduced the size of reserves, and helped entrance policies that caused lasting harm with effects we feel to this day. That’s not a legacy we should commemorate on a street sign.”
Trutch Street runs between 18th and 1st Avenues on the city’s west side in the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam people.
“This day has been coming for over 10 years,” Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow told the crowd.
Vancouver has gone through three mayors since the Musqueam first brought a request for the street’s name to be changed.
Council voted unanimously in 2021 to change the street’s name, and the Musqueam gifted the new name to the city the following year.
Sparrow acknowledged the new characters and the Musqueam hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language may be a challenge for some people at first, but said it will be a process of learning together.
“One lady, when we were in a public hearing, they were upset it was in our language, and they were going to have a hard time pronouncing it. And I invited those individuals down to our celebration we are having at our community today, to come down and learn,” Sparrow said.
“Our ancestors were forced to speak English. They were forced to do away without language. And if we are walking reconciliation, we walk together. And we all have a part to learn our language, and we will get there.”‘
As a next step, the city will be installing an audio box and an interpretive sign near šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street at West Point Grey Road that provide more information about the new name, along with Joseph Trutch and why the name change happened.
Neighbour Patrick Purcell said the change will mean a bit of work around updating official documents for people who live on the street, but that the move was “progress.”
“I think it’s beautiful, and I think it’s overdue … I am glad it shows the respect to Indigenous people they deserve,” he said.
Sim said the city could look at renaming other streets in the future as a part of its efforts towards reconciliation.
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