Before contact with Europeans, northern Coast Salish people lived and thrived up and down the coast, including Lasqueti Island, for thousands of years.
Since 2021, island resident and archaeology professor at Simon Fraser University Dana Lepofsky has led the Xwe’etay/Lasqueti Archaeology Project (XLAP). On May 3, an inter-community celebration took place for the unveiling of a welcome mural and opening of a travelling exhibition titled, The Island in the Middle of Everywhere.
"160 people showed up at the dock, and more people showed up at the hall," said Lepofsky. "All of this was made possible because our First Nations partners have stepped in and said, ‘Yes, this is a community worth reconnecting to.’”
According to the project description: The years-long project aimed to, "bring together Coast Salish peoples and settler residents to honour the Indigenous presence on Lasqueti Island."
The mural was co-created by Qualicum artist Jesse Recalma and Lasqueti artists Sophia Rosenberg and Julia Woldmo.
Tla'amin Nation elder, retired teacher and author Betty Wilson was at the mural unveiling on Lasqueti, which is Area E of qathet Regional District. Other Tla'amin representatives in attendance included Drew Blaney, Dillon Johnson and Davis McKenzie.
"It was a wonderful trip," said Wilson. "The people who live there are so open and friendly, and they acknowledge the [Indigenous] people who used to use the land."
The mural was placed on the freight shed on the Lasqueti dock, visible to all who approach the island from the water.
"We've been doing this work on the island for four or five years, but this event, it's kind of a culmination," said Lepofsky. "It was a really beautiful event, and First Nations came from all over."
The Qualicum (Qualicum Beach), Tla'amin (qathet), K’ómoks (Courtenay/ Comox), Halalt (Chemainus) and Wei Wai Kum (Campbell River) people share northern Coast Salish ancestry, and for thousands of years before Europeans arrived, skillfully managed the land and sea on and around Xwe’etay/Lasqueti to create a rich and secure supply of fish, clams and plants.
"I've come to realize that part of what's missing from the discussion is that Indigenous history has been erased, and this process of erasure has been deliberate, but also, not always deliberate," said Lepofsky. "Archaeology provides a way for people to see that past and touch it literally and metaphorically; I've always known that archaeology is like a conduit for bringing together people from diverse backgrounds, because everyone loves archaeology."
The travelling part of the exhibition includes enormous, five-by-eight feet panels of photographs and video that showcases the archaeological work in progress and the beauty of the island.
Qualicum First Nation member Kim Recalma-Clutesi, a former Qualicum chief and the daughter of late Qualicum clan chief Ewanuxdzi, was heavily involved with XLAP, guiding Indigenous cultural stewardship traditions throughout the project as a teacher and academic researcher of ethnobotany.
"I've worked on and off with Dana for a very long time," said Recalma-Clutesi. "I have strong cultural training with firsthand experience in traditional ecological knowledge, and so I started helping to educate the community after the entire process began."
She said there needed to be a spiritual component dealing with ancestral remains.
"There was a belief that there had been no inhabitants on that island, except for the settlers who started living there," said Recalma-Clutesi.
Now, after years of reconciliation work, residents of Lasqueti have mostly embraced the fact that northern Coast Salish people inhabited the island for at least 7,000 years permanently, with an estimated population of 800 to 2,200 people, according to Lepofsky. Most northern Coast Salish communities also have stories of their ancestors travelling to Xwe’etay/Lasqueti.
"I know some elders who are gone, who used to row there to harvest cedar roots for traditional baskets," said Wilson.
Recalma-Clutesi said it's one thing to work specifically to do an [archaeological] survey of the entire island, but another to have the whole community walk down the road of reconciliation and buy into the project.
"Some may have felt like there's land claims going on here, but really, we are honouring our ancestors," said Recalma-Clutesi. "The feeding of the ancestors is a very specific process and there's a lot of preparation."
On May 3, Recalma-Clutesi along with other specialists in the area, did a very old blessing with Eagle-down feathers at the dock where the mural is.
"You can't have a project for this length of time and not have some of the residents worrying about things, you know, you can misstep," said Recalma-Clutesi. "So the blessings were to remove anything that didn't belong and to leave only the good words with the ancestors, without having some unrest of some kind.
"I know of no other community in British Columbia that has gone through reconciliation and learning in the same way as Lasqueti has. This project was a catalyst for that, and it gave a framework for us to be able to bring cultural specialists in to have these conversations."
Lepofsky said the objective of community-centred archaeology is to bring people together.
"As Kim said at the event, you have the archaeology, but you also know that you can't separate that from Indigenous people, and you need to bring them together," said Lepofsky. "I give people what's called archaeology eyes: once I show you, that's a house platform, that's a fish trap, once you see a clam garden, once I show you these things, you can't unsee the tangible evidence."
Lepofsky said adding to the mix the people who are connected to descendants of those archeological remains is a powerful combination.
"I love the feeling that the present people who reside there [on Lasqueti] are not feeling threatened but acknowledge and embrace the history of the island," said Wilson. "The mural is a great acknowledgment of their respect. Drew, Dillon, Davis, Bryce and us older ladies sang and drummed for the community to show our respect for what they are doing."
Wilson said she was happy to see Qualicum First Nation representatives at the event.
"We are all related in the end," added Wilson.
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