The land that is now Kitsilano was part of the unceded Coast Salish territories, utilized by Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish people. The hәn̓q̓әmin̓әm̓ language, spoken by many of the Indigenous peoples surrounding the Fraser River delta, contains place-based knowledge relevant to this area. The Coast Salish village of sәn̓aʔqʷ was located in the area now known as Vanier Park, which is adjacent to Kitsilano. The meaning of sәn̓aʔqʷ in hәn̓q̓әmin̓әm̓ is “direct the head there” (Couture, 2020).
In 1869, 37 acres in the Kitsilano area were set aside as an “Indian reserve”. In 1877, the federal and provincial Joint Indian Reserve Commission expanded the reserve to 80 acres and allotted it to the “Skwamish Tribe” alone (Stanger-Ross, 2008). This act of establishing a reserve was a key element of Canada’s colonial project, aiming to confine Indigenous people and make way for settler development.
As Vancouver grew, this reserve became an obstacle to the city’s expansion plans and the vision of municipal officials. Jean Barman’s work highlights the events leading up to the removal of Aboriginal people from the Kitsilano Reserve in 1913, indicating the importance of urban ‘stakeholders’ in this dispossession. The city plan explicitly noted it as a “stroke of fortune” that the Reserve had come into public ownership, recognizing that its existence had facilitated their designs (Stanger-Ross, 2008). Despite Indigenous persistence and political legitimacy asserted through cultural performance, the Squamish people were eventually removed from their reserve in Kitsilano. By 1913, the provincial government had legislated to enable the removal of the Kitsilano reserve, although federal consent was also required.
Following the removal of the Squamish, Kitsilano developed into a residential community. The period between 1935 and 1961 saw the consolidation of this community, with the in-fill of its landscape and the proliferation of community activities. The Kitsilano Ratepayers’ Association and the Kitsilano Chamber of Commerce were central to shaping the neighbourhood’s character. Events like the Kitsilano Showboat (established in 1935) and the Kitsilano Karnival (begun in 1939) contributed to a strong sense of community spirit (Carr, 1980). The Squamish Band surrendered the Kitsilano Reserve to the federal government in 1946. Subsequently, the land was sold in six parcels to private and public purchasers. The largest parcel, almost 42 acres, was sold to the Department of National Defence in 1947. This act marked the final erasure of the legally recognized Indigenous presence on this land, furthering the colonial agenda of land acquisition (Couture, 2020).
Kitsilano continued to evolve as a Vancouver neighbourhood. By 1960, the eastern landscape of the area consisted predominantly of apartments, while southwestern areas retained single-family homes. Despite the outward development and community spirit, the initial dispossession of Indigenous people and the colonial underpinnings of Kitsilano’s development remain a significant aspect of its history (Kenny, 2016). The fact that the land on which the City of Vancouver Archives is housed is nearby the former Kitsilano Reserve (sәn̓aʔqʷ/Sen’ákw) and was also formerly one of the homes of August Jack Khahtsahlano’s family highlights the enduring connection of Indigenous history to the present landscape (Couture, 2020).
See Sites
References
Carr, A. J. (1980). The Development of Neighbourhood in Kitsilano : Ideas, Actors and the Landscape [Dissertation].
Couture, S. (2020). Against the Current and into the Light: Performing History and Land in Coast Salish Territories and Vancouver’s Stanley Park. McGill-Queen’s Press.
Kenny, N. (2016). Forgotten pasts and contested futures in Vancouver. British Journal of Canadian Studies, 29(2), 175–197.
Stanger-Ross, J. (2008). Municipal Colonialism In Vancouver: City Planning And The Conflict Over Indian Reserves, 1928–1950s. Canadian Historical Review, 89(4), 541–580.