Kwikwetlam First Nation Celebrates Kwikwetlam Day 2024

The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm people are the First Peoples of the Coquitlam Watershed. Archaeology findings have confirmed continuous occupation of ancestral lands for at least 10,000 years, since the last ice age. The Cities of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam take their name from the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm people.

The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm people are descended from ancestors who were renowned spirit and winter dancers, skilled canoe builders, and master sturgeon and salmon fishers. The rich culture and history of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm people is based on ancient Coast Salish laws and protocols which granted them the responsibility to govern their territory in accordance with their customary laws. The land is central to every aspect of their life, and today, as in the past, they are guided by teachings to responsibly use and care for the lands, waters and all that is above and below.

kʷikʷəƛ̓əm draw their name “Red Fish Up the River” from an early spring sockeye salmon run that once flourished in the Coquitlam River and Coquitlam Lake prior to the construction of the Coquitlam Dam. Elders talk of these sockeyes once running so thick that it was difficult to navigate canoes. Their name reflects the strong connection their people have always had to the lands, and the rivers and lakes at the heart of their traditional territory.

On Kwikwetlem Day the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm people celebrated the graduation of their youth ang gave updates to as to the state of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm peoples right to now hunt on their own land and a progress report of the construction of a new hatchery being built in the Coquitlam River watershed.