We are a Coast Salish people who speak the Hul’qumi’num lanquage. We have occupied the eastern shores of south-central Vancouver Island for more than 5,000 years. Our exclusive traditional territory comprises more than 98,000 hectares and extends from several kilometres north of Neck Point to Boat Harbour in the south, Gabriola Island and other small islands to the east and the western reaches of the Nanaimo River watershed. We also have an additional 104,000 hectares of non-exclusive traditional territory that we share with other First Nations. This includes seasonal villages, fishing villages and resource areas in Qualicum, Chemainus and on the Fraser River. Over the past 150 years, we have been alienated from our land-base and from the village sites promised to us in the Douglas Treaty of 1854. Our community is presently situated on the southern outskirts of the City of Nanaimo.
		This digital collection was produced with funding from the Aboriginal Digital Collections program, Industry Canada