Talk:Squamish people/Archive 3

Villages & Reserves
I knew I had some that I forgot to add, but I never realized how many. I also have names of previous villages that were never reserves. I also want to eventually add which villages are still existent and which are not. And 'ideally I would like to have a map to show where they all are. I need to figure out how to make a map of the territory itself. is a good one I like to use as a template for making my own. But there are no maps to build it off for this region of Vancouver, Howe Sound, Squamish Valley, etc. I guess the other alternative is if I build it from scratch, kind of. I'll see what I can do sometime later this month. Thanks for the Census data Skookum! OldManRivers (talk) 17:46, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Pfly just had a kid so is ultra-busy with diapers and bottles, but has experience making local-area maps (see Texada Island), Discovery Passage et al. The IRs I added are not all the IRs in the area, just those listed by INAC; why the others aren'there I don't know, same for the Siska area and for the Seton Lake Indian Band, who I added similar info to, and I expect to find the same with other FNs.  I originally found the INAC site when adding to Ulkatcho First Nation.  it's debatable whether all IRs should have their own articles; each has a provenance history as a "survey object" but when the village/reserve are the same, e.g. Sta7mes it seems like one should be a redirect to the other; unless there are reasons not to.Skookum1 (talk) 18:02, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Of course, the name
The five citations following the word "Sḵwx̱wú7mesh" at the beginning of the article affirm that, yes, that is the correct spelling — in the language itself. However, they (correctly) do not assert that "Sḵwx̱wú7mesh" is English. This is an English encyclopedia, so the articles should be named in English names. The article on the French is not called "Français", the article on the Germans is not called "Deutsch", and (since the letters used in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh represent their own alphebetical system — the Squamish alphabet) most pertinently, the page on Kanji is not called 漢字 and the page on Cherokee is not called ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ. These are, obviously, just some of the examples — but Sḵwx̱wú7mesh simply is not English, and therefore does not belong in an English encyclopedia. The Anglicized name of the tribe is Squamish. — The Man in Question (gesprec)  ·  (forðung)  19:03, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Although your point is well-taken, there are some exceptions: Tohono O'odham, Ohlone, Mi'kmaq, and, arguably, Gwich’in, Kumeyaay, and Tongva (I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I thought of). Because of the letters with line under, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh doesn't seem as much like an alternate English spelling as even Tohono O'odham or Mi'kmaq, but Skwxw7mesh can be easily typed on an en-US keyboard.--Curtis Clark (talk) 05:09, 10 June 2008 (UTC)


 * As much as I opposed the use of Skwxwu7mesh originally, for much the same reasons as TMiQ, there is a combination of cultural sensitivity and also actual practice in English-as-it-is-used/mandated in British Columbia, where indigenous languages are beomcing official; note where Sto:lo, Nuxalk and St'at'imc redirect to, for instance (and their cats). It's turned out to be very practical, other than assuaging indigenous sentiment in favour of what I've heard dubbed as "Indianized" names, "corrected" forms (which are ironically often based on derived/mistaken names, e.g. Ninstints, Nicola).  It also applies across the WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North America; the Palouse (tribe) are the Palus (which helps because of the widespread usage of Palouse in other contexts/parallel geography/history); can't rembmer if Nooksack (tribe) got the same treatment but if so it's a doozy; it's not across teh board - Duwamish and other Salishan names in Washington all have articles with "Anglo" versions of the near-impisslbe Lushootseed or NSS names.  But in application of the indigenous/anglicized name split, i.e. with ethno articles getting the indigenous/semi-official form and government articles getting the anglicized form; it's a judgemnt call sometimes to know which spelling system to use forh the indingeous ones, granted (and I could start listing way too many examples, but see Wuikinuxv for an example).  The reason it's pratcial is because Squamish in its most common usage is the town; originally that link went to an article on the wind bvtw; "Squamish people" is redundant (-mish is people) and "Squamish Nation" is the name of the government.  Different article, legally constsituted name; but given that they remain sovereign, then within that regime what they choose to call themelves as a people/group/ethnicity (indpenedent of a legal-oragnizational name) is their business, and also citable.  yes, this is an English encyclopedia; but English usage is broadening, especially in Canada and particularly in BC; the Nisga'a Treaty points t he way to a renamed landscape with all kinds of new linguitic parameters - in the course of writign Tseax River tonight I found out that its official name now is Ksi Sii Aks (no "River").  That's its official name in English.  Likewise Canyon City is a redirect to Gitwinksihlkw, British Columbia now, because the latter is the offical name.  In cases like Squamish/Skwxwu7kmesh or Lillooet and Chilcotin its very handy as a distinction; your change to Squamish history is way too ambiguous; proper format would be History of the Squamish people if that werne't redundant; history of the Squamish still doesn't work because it's way too mcuh like history of Squamish (no article yet, but conceivably could be).  Ditto with Lillooet history vs St'at'imc history.  And St'at'imc personally bugs me because it used to be Stl'atl'imx, which is more how it sounds (if you know the xota); the newer spelling are not English charactrs, even, but it's become standard in English usage in Canada.  Likewise the underlines and otehr diacriticals in kwak'wala and Haida languages.  I suppose you find Kwakwaka'wakw not up to snuff, either, and it should be Kwakiutl, right?  This is the issue with cultural sensitivity I was talking about, and it applies to the Squamish/Skwxwu7mesh situation just as much (OMR where are you?).  I gotta go to bed; just know that there were good reasons to have the indigenous name on these articles, vs the anglicized one, and that it's worked out REALLY well to distinguish between indigenous-sphere articles and regular-old-world articles (and cats e.g .Category:Tsilhqot'in vs Category:Chilcotin Country).  Oh, and would you please put back in teh alt apellings of Esla7an, Sta7mes etc?  You had no business taking htem out....there is no such thing as an incorrect or mistaken alternate spelling; all alternate and historical spellings are equally relevant and mentionable, and should jnot have been deleted.Skookum1 (talk) 05:49, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I note that you are a WP:SPA. Kind of a splashy debut for a new Wikipedian, taking on a major POV-style issue with aggressive renamings and mass cahnges.  What's up?  Having a nice day?  New around here?  Please read WP:WOS and other manuals of style and conduct.  You have been making changes not suitable to someone fresh out of the gate, especially given the way it was done without regard to the previous work/discussion.Skookum1 (talk) 05:56, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The man is not a SPA as far as I can see. But already the first article cited does in fact have "Sḵwx̱wú7mesh" and not Squamish within the English text. Thus, it uses "Sḵwx̱wú7mesh" as an English word (as opposed to examples such as "français" or "Deutsch") so the objection doesn't seem valid.--Anonymous44 (talk) 17:41, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
 * First off when The Man in Question appeared on the scene, these edits - and article/category-names - were the first and it was only the Skwxwu7mesh/Squamish edits were the only ones in his user contributions; he's since diversified and I gather that he was active in non-English wikipedia (Russian?) before creating the account. In context, there was at the same time activism by a radical/flaked-out group trying to force a "coup" in Skwxwu7mesh band offices and one of its leaders presuming to hold a chiefly name, without the right to do so; so in context these edits had the appearance of an edit war, especially when it came to deleting material that shoudl have been there (e.g. deciding only one English adaptation was to be shown, not all of them).  Or perhaps it's normal that a new user, or a new account, starts right off with name and category changes?  Very uppity, and also done without any consensual discussion and no talkpage postings first; just a high-handed revision of what The Man in Question thought should be right.  The dust has settled and it seems that he has other interests than messing in what amounts to Skwxwu7mesh cultural politics; on the other hand, many European erstwshile cognoscenti get their information on FN peoples from European-hosted websites about FNs which take the radical, ideologue position; a POV position.  On the issue of francais/Deutsch not being used in English, that's true, but in British Columbia English, and in wider Canadian English, the accepted norm in English is to use the ethnographically-preferred name in place of the usual English transliterations/older adaptataions - Nisga'a/Nishga, Kwakwaka'wakw/Kwakiutl, Gitxsan/Gitksan, Dakelh/Carrier, Nuu-chah-nulth/Nootka, St'at'imc/Lillooet, Nlaka'pamux/Thompson, Secwepemc/Shuswap, Ktunaxa/Kutenai, and others (some very sensitive, like not calling the Heiltsuk/Bella Bella or Oowekyala/Rivers Inlet peoples as "Northern Kwakiutl".  The anglicized names generally only show up nowadays in government names, like Squamish Nation and Chilcotin Carrier Tribal Council and Kwakiutl District Council (which includes the Kwakiutl First Nation, which are the name-origin of the "Kwakiutl" term and hwo ethnographically are properly the Kwagyewlth, plus certain other bands which are comfortable with "kwakiutl" as a descriptor/ many or most Kwakwaka'wakw groups do not like it (including OMR's 'Namgis).  So the emergent WikiBC convention has become to use the anglicized name for the government articles, and placenames (as according to the provincial gazette as the arbiter) that do not have English/English-adaptation equivalents, while for ethno/people and traditional-village names (where there often is no "English" version) using the indigenous-language orthography/form; in many cases the same settlement has two articles, e.g. Camchin and Lytton, British Columbia are the same place, likewise D'Arcy, British Columbia and N'quatqua - but from different perspectives and the one article will be about the traditional history and the "native part of town" while the other is for the larger community (in Lytton's case, an incorporated village or district, also).  So there are good reasons why "the Skwxwu7mesh" is used instead of "the Squamish", and it's an increasinbly accepted norm in English.  It is, in BC, the de facto norm, and becoming also de jure (the Nisga'a Treaty included several clauses stipulating the adoption of Nisga'a names as official).Skookum1 (talk) 20:09, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Concerning The Man in Question: First of all, I see no reason why a new user shouldn't start with name changes, and they are likely to act without due consensus precisely because they are inexperienced. Next, I can't imagine how his attempt to rename a Wikipedia page could be connected with a real-life attempted Skwxwu7mesh "coup" that the you mentioned. And finally, you seem to have made a mistake - those were not his first edits, this contributor had been around for around two years, his first edit being from the winter of 2006. You should be more careful with accusations like this.
 * As for the article, as I already said, The Man in Question was apparently wrong and the "?" name is indeed widely used in English, so I'm not advocating a change. That said, the argument about an emergent practice in Wikipedia wouldn't have seemed relevant to me per se (we can and must change any practice that violates our policies and, in most cases, guidelines; in this case by espousing a terminology that isn't dominant yet). I really wonder what you mean by "European radical ideologue positions about FN peoples" and how these would be relevant for this. Thousands of ... evil, radical, Eurocentric (or is it anti-American?!) Euros ... plotting to ... take the name of your language away from you??... Take it easy, for chrissake, and don't get paranoic. Anonymous44 (talk) 23:12, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Although I initially argued for an Anglicized name for the article, I've gotten the picture after lurking here for a while that no such name would be correct. The article's title should remain either "Sḵwx̱wú7mesh" or "Skwxwu7mesh".  r speer  / ɹəəds ɹ  21:31, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Fine. BTW - it's ironic that so many people find this so important. The languages are dying, tragically, so many are already dead - and people spend enormous amounts of their time fighting over and lobbying for petty things such as their English names having punctuation signs in them. Anonymous44 (talk) 23:12, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I would actually like to point out that this language is dead. No children are currently learning it as a first language, with around 8-10 fluent speakers (as in first-language, mother tounge types) with about a dozen or so that know it quite well, but learned it later in life.  More importantly, much is being done to revive this language.  Our culture is still alive and we reclaim it all the time.  Our people refer to ourselves as Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh has meaning with the hearts of our people.  I'm saying this to support the claim the title should be Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, but merely point out that it's not that petty, because it means something to someone. OldManRivers (talk) 05:35, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, someone chooses to have it mean something to them, what I was doubting is that this is a wise choice to make. One of my original reasons was that concentrating on how things are said in the English language means acknowledging that the English language is the relevant one; the normal thing would be not to give a damn about what English-speaking people say in their language (being Bulgarian, I really couldn't care less about which combination of sounds Americans or Bangladeshis use to designate "Bulgarian", and if my language were to die, changing its American or Bangladeshi name wouldn't come as a comfort). Now, what hadn't occurred to me is that this is a different situation, since many indigenous communities are English-speaking now, and it's natural that they would want to regulate English usage. If, as you say, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people really prefer to call themselves "Sḵwx̱wú7mesh" while speaking in English in everyday life - then I guess they have a right to be called that, just as other English-speaking minorities have their preferred self-designations. It just sounds kind of strange to me: how can they call themselves that if they don't speak the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh language? I mean, if a person doesn't know the language well, they wouldn't be able to pronounce half of the letters in "Sḵwx̱wú7mesh" to start with.
 * As for the indigenous language revival efforts, I have been reading about it only for a little while, but my impression is that for many if not most indigenous languages, much of what is done is either gravely insufficient or pretty much off target - hundreds of "native language" schools that haven't produced a single fluent speaker and teach the kids the names of forest birds to make the parents feel good. And it's quite natural - it's a frightfully difficult task, teaching everyone and not just the hugely zealous and the linguistically talented a language whose structure is so completely alien for a European-language speaker. The Israelis made this miracle, but they had a real motivation, they were basically saving their nation's physical skins by consolidating it in this way, and they had a huge amount of money to spend on it. Even they achieved something that is pretty different from the original Hebrew. For indigenous languages, even if much is done, I'm afraid it's light years away from all the stuff that would need to be done, and spending any effort on "beautifying" official Canadian English instead is just ... pointless, IMO.--Anonymous44 (talk) 15:06, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * There is a lot of work to be done, but language nests, and other projects across the Northwest Coast are happening and with much success. Many of our people speak the language in ceremony and within the community, but it is by no means alive. The Maori's and the Hawaiian Natives accomplished much in regards to their language revive, although they did run into problems and such.  It isn't really about "beautifying" as much as cultural appropriateness over misnomers.  When our main language is English, it has relevance, as you pointed out.  But, maybe your right. :) OldManRivers (talk) 03:41, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
 * The last sentence was a smart move, it's the best way to shut me up. :) Anyway, good luck with the revival, and may it work! --Anonymous44 (talk) 18:01, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
 * The thin edge of the wedge in Canadian English was when "we" started using the accents in Montreal and Quebec in order to be "bilingually correcct"; interesting that the French don't return the favour and insist on pronouncing English names a French way (e.g. VancouVAIR, CalgaREE), and insisting on translating the Latin name Nova Scotia to Nouvelle-Ecosse. We don't do the same favour for Mexico or various German or Scandinavian placenames, although we do use Prague instead of Praha and Vienna instead of Wien, Munich instead of Muenchen etc.....standard Canadian English, and Wiki guidelines, also uses pinyin spellings and Mandarin forms for most Chinese names and words, even thought Cantonese is "the historical Canadian Chinese"; we also don't use Canton anymore when we mean Guangzhou/Kwangchung, or Peking vs. Beijing; the mandarainzed pinyin spelling of Gweilo, a Cantonese word "traditionally" spelled Gwailo in English is predicated in Wiki guideilnes to the pinyin form; likewise Mumbai vs Bombay although Kolkata has yet to have the currency in English that Calcutta still does....correctness has its limits, yes.  In other FN cases, though, the anglicized name is either appropriate or necessary - Chief Nicola vs his Spokan-origin name Hwistesmexteqen because he's most well-known as Nicola, and Ninstints I "went for" in creating that article because it's more consistent usage vs the various variant forms of Skungwai and SGang Gwaay and others which have become "politically fasionable"; Ninstints, though of aboriginal origin, is derided by the proponents of the other names as being "incorrect" or "mistaken" though the same sites continue to use the also-"incorrect" forms Skidegate, Skedans and Cumshewa (all names of the presiding 19th C. chieftaincy, rather than the actual Haida village-name); point is that in face of variant spelling systems the recourse is to the so-called "English form" (Ninstints).  The difference with Skwxwu7mesh is that it is an official and "fixed" spelling, unlike the variable spellings of Haida (and the many, many variant spellings of other Salishan-language names); Washington state nations like the Duwamish and Muckleshoot use those "English" forms, only a few like S'Klallam and Yakama the Wiki usage has followed the indigenous spelling and the Washington media follows suit.  Likewise with the major BC media and govvernment usage - the Squamish Nation is spelled that way, but references to individuals' origin or in cultural contexts, you do see Skwxwu7mesh (withouth the underlines and accented u) in the Vancouver Sun and and Province.  It's not a question of whether or not this should be done, Anonymous44, it's an issue that it is done, i.e. that it's standard practice in BC English, and also increasingly in pan-Canadian English; similarly in the Alberta papers you'll see Tsuu T'ina instead of Blackfoot/feet and, nationally, Mikmaq instead of Micmac.  Granted, native orthographic systems aren't all that consistent, and sometimes there's more than one - different Musqueam pages use different nativized forms of that name, what the Hunquminum spelling is I haven't yet figured out - and St'at'imc in that p.c.-spelling gives no clue taht those /t'/ characters are [tl] or [lh] rathre than a plosive-t (as in most native language-orthographies) and that final /c/, like also in Secwepemc, is nearly silent and in the older spelling Stl'atl'imx where x=h is a lot closer to the old, old English transliteration of this name, Stlatliumh (now "discredited", even though it's pronounced teh same way); the ratiohnale seems to be to avoid teh final-x in Nlaka'pamux; yet the Stl'atl'imx Tribal Police and certain other bodies, and some academics, continue to use it.  But the "press standard" and "govt standard" is accoreding to the FN's choice - St'at'imc - even though as noted t he /t'/ and the /c/, like the special characters in the diacriticalized form of Skwxwu7mesh, have no relationship to English orthography.  So it's not a question of "beautifying" Canadian English - quite the opposite, given the visual clutter of diacriticals and elaborate-looking and "exotic" names - it's a question of politicizing of Canadian English.  But it's a done deal, and these are now the accepted usages - Dakelh for Carrier, Dunneza for Beaver, and so on.  Skwxwu7mesh falls in the same category, and like St'at'imc and other heavily diacriticzliaed names is usually present without the diacriticals; the except is Sto:lo where the colon-character is used but hte overline- isn't - Wiki-nitpickers changed the title of that page, by the way, substituting something that looks like a colony but is too little triangles pointing at each other; the diacriticalized catnames are a pain in the ass, I will say that, as you can't just type them when adding them to a page......  Anyway, as already noted, "Squamish people" is actually redundant, and Squamish goes to its main primary usage, the town (the original version of squamish went to the squamish wind, as THAT is the more common usage in the US, or to someone anyway who seemed to think it was the main/original usage when the article was started......"best known to the general public" behooves the rider "which general public?  I should add also that using "Salish" as if it were a nationality/ethnicity when the more specific usages within it really are is another "best known to the general public" term, even though it's used incorrectly; at one time the general public also referred to the Lower Mainland/Straits peoples as "Cowidgin" (Cowichan), but that doesnt' make that correct, adn the general public-region wide used the derogative Siwash, as if it were a tribal name.  One last shot about Skwxwu7mesh - the original English transliteration wasSko-ko-mish, which is closer in pronunciation to the original.....(but too closely remembles Skokomish in the same way that Squamish is "too close" to Suquamish/Suguamish.....Skookum1 (talk) 14:42, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I wrote "beautifying" in quotation marks for a reason. Of course it's debatable what's beautiful and what isn't (though personally I like diacritics :)), but my point is that other nations' official languages are their own business and their own problem; it doesn't make sense that one should feel it important for oneself what one is called in another nation's language; trying to "fix" another nation's vocabulary is thus not only weird, but ironically altruistic as well, whether one's purpose is to make it more philologically accurate or simply more beautiful, and the most absurd thing is to feel that it is not altruistic, but rather important for one's own well-being. In this way, one indicates that one exists very little in oneself and for oneself, with one's own language practice, and very much in and for the surrounding "alien" society, with its language practice. With the FN's history and current situation, you absolutely can't blame them for this, but a wise choice it is not, IMO.
 * That's as far as the FN side is considered. As for the Canadian authorities, I guess the normal thing for them to do has been to comply with the wishes of the FN, although agreeing to introduce foreign letters was really not reasonable and more of a fashion and a way to simulate FN-friendliness while avoiding to do really useful things and solve real problems.
 * Note that my last three edits to this talk page are just chatting that belong in an internet forum or a blog and not on Wikipedia, so I'll stop now. Have a nice day, --Anonymous44 (talk) 18:01, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Hats and siyam
Nice pics; one thing to note is that all pics now seem to be people; maybe there should be some culture and building shots, e.g. art or a particular building, the Capilano longhouse maybe. Other than that, I gotta ask - are those wolverine chapeaux? There's some pics of St'at'imc and Nlaka'pamux chiefs wearing smilar, definitely wolverine, always in a kind of turban thing like what we see here, remeinisicent of a bearskin on the various UK regiments that wear them, only smaller. It got me wondering - are there anything like customary laws in Skwwxwu7mesh culture, i.e. this kind of headgear can only be worn by siyam, or by ranking "chiefs"?Skookum1 (talk) 03:26, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't know much about most of the regalia being worn. I'm learning about the different reglia right now as I begin to make my own.  There is customary law, either relating to dance societies one belongs to, family rights, or other things.  There is also purposes or reasons for one wearing the regalia.  People just didn't make s#$@ up. haha. OldManRivers (talk) 05:01, 8 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Whatever fur it is, and anything else short-and-commentable about what they're wearing; - mountain goat wool capes looks like? - should be stated in the captions. More elaborate comment and discussion of Skwxwu7mesh apparel could go in Skwxwu7mesh culture.Skookum1 (talk) 03:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Now that I found the book I've been looking for, I can start elaborating more on these, definitely.  OldManRivers (talk) 05:01, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

I FOUND IT!
I've been trying to find this damn book. I remembered seeing it at U'mista Cultural Centre years ago. I now own a copy and it has amazzzzzzzzzing information. This series just got a WHOLE lot better! OldManRivers (talk) 04:59, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Hill-Tout, Charles. The Salish People Volume II: The Squamish and Lillooet. Talon Books, December 1978. ISBN 0-88922-151-0
 * He has great stuff about the Lower Lillooet's early and gold rush era changes and more; there's more landscape aticles in that countryk and yours, by native placenams as well as vanished pioneer-era names like "Twnety-Five Mile Jim's" (I think that's the same duede as Mount Skook Jim east of Skookumchuck. I imagine frmo our perspective his  info on the Skwxwu7mesh must be elike an avalanche of wow, huh?  He and Tait wer the most thorough in their seriousness and coverage, although there's mistakes made by Teit and of course there'd be some in Hill-tout.  Maybe.  I'm enjoying reading the online Howay, and you may get a kcik out of his passages on various peoples and situations; explains a lot of whiteman politics of the day really well, and his anthro stuff is a good effort but not academic in nature, though he does hve various vignettes; maybe some of the Skwxwu7mesh.  Sorry still haven't foudn that bit, must be in teh Akriggs BC Chronicle, or it could be in something else like amore "popular" history, about the first HBC contact with the Skwxwu7mesh; or did we go over that alrady.  It's lte, I've been playing up a storm on a beautiful hot night up in the campus nearby, time for bed, just checking wiki before bed; bad habit, keeps me up ;0-)  G'nite.Skookum1 (talk) 05:37, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Diacriticals in FN catnames
Please see this on the CFD talklpage.Skookum1 (talk) 16:41, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Defence Islands IRs...
These are mentioned in the Howe Sound article; presumably they're under Skwxwu7mesh/Squamish Nation jursidiction. What are their Skwxwu7mesh snichim names, and were they just fishing sites or do they have a spiritual origin/relevance or ??Skookum1 (talk) 05:01, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Kwemkwem and Niʼnich kwemkwem. Kwem is a root sound for 'kelp, and when the first part of a word, or in this case, the word itself, is repeated, it usually makes it plural.  For example, xwelitn (That's you Skookum! haha) or Xwelxwelitn (That's lots of foreigners!)  Ni'nich just means outer.  They have been campsites, fishing sites, and bural islands for a long time.  We had a longhouse on the larger island but it was burnt down years ago.  A new one was supposed to be built but the man leading the charge on it is known for embellizing within the Squamish Nation so no surprise there that the money he was given hasn't produced results.  My people still go there for camping trips and weekend retreats and stuff.  OldManRivers (talk) 06:21, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, if there's something in the band library that can be used to cite the purpose and the longhouses etc please add them to Defence Islands.Skookum1 (talk) 16:29, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Suggested pic
This turned up on the Squamish River page, courtesy User:AndrewEnns: I gave it a caption on the other article but if added here maybe, if possible, the caption should be about the native historical context/reality, with the placenames in Skwxu7mesh - what is the name of the Squamish River in Skwxwu7mesh anyway? I don't know where exactly Andrew took this, looks to be about 20 miles up, maybe only 15; hard to say with the wide angle lens. Seems fitting for illustrating Skwxwu7mesh territory, likewise pics of other parts of the region out there; "Things that are of the Skwxwuu7mesh" is as I recall what Skwxwu7mesh-ullh means; the landscape seems an important part of it, and part of the culture....also suggest a pic of the Stawamus Chief, and the Lions etc; again with captions explaining their names and significance to the Skwxwu7mesh.Skookum1 (talk) 04:03, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

"7" and 7
Just trying something - 7 or maybe 7....still doesn't have that "curve" the St'at'imcets "7" has - I remember seeing it on the old potato-quarantine sign at the entrance to the Pemberton Valley near Nairn Falls....Skookum1 (talk) 03:29, 4 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, that didn't work...will have to look over wikicode...it was just an idea....Skookum1 (talk) 12:57, 4 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Can someone please explain what this is? A name with a "7" in it is indeed worth a small section in the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.206.249.226 (talk) 19:33, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
 * It's a glottal stop, and yes, it should be explained. I don't know when *I* can get to it, I'm just commenting for now, have other things going on today.Skookum1 (talk) 19:57, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

Title of this article
I've had a look here and I can see that the title of this article is controversal, but it doesn't appear probably on my computer. I'm running IE7 under Windows XP (SP3 probably), and I'm seeing Sḵwx[]wú7mesh (single character square box for []). Looking at this page it looks like the x should be underlined. Edgepedia (talk) 20:21, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm running Camino, a Firefox clone for MacOS, and I see "x_" for that character; and never understood why the previous title, which used x  for x, was all about as it looked like a "bad change" for the browser I'm in anyway; wondered about what other browsers might display these characters as....which brings me back to the core to-diacritical-or-not-to-diacritical subject which I've raised on the talkpages at Sto:lo and St'at'imc also (and one reason I can't link those easily, in fact, is because of the diacriticals being not feasible to readily/easily type; Talk:Sto:lo and Talk:St'at'imc etc are not esaily ref'able for that reason, unelss redirects are specifically made....There's a point in using indigenous forms of names in English, which has been long since discussed; but the most-common-usage English adaptations do not use the diacriticals at all, as they're not in teh typeface used by newspapers, magazines and most book publishers, and they're not relevant as pronunciations in English anyway; myself I think Skwxwu7mesh is a fine compromise, but that's just my opinion; the reality is that for every authentically-indigenous spelling there's another system of spelling and another set of characters in use; see Talk:Shuswap language about this in fact...).Skookum1 (talk) 23:01, 19 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Diacriticals also discussed in link in previous section to this one...Skookum1 (talk) 23:15, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

I thought this was the English language Wikipedia, not the Squamish Wikipedia. What the hell is this title doing in the database, anyway? I get the feeling some Wikipedians have their heads firmly inserted in their rectal orifices. Article titles should be rendered in the language of the Wiki, and parenthetic information can then be added regarding spelling and pronunciation in the original language. This isn't cute. This isn't intellectual. It's just plain stupid. &mdash;QuicksilverT @ 22:25, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

Getting To Work
Hi all! I am back! I am coming back to do some touch-ups. I helped get this article expanded, but do recognize it needs more work. I am mostly going to troll around adding citations (and probably removing areas that do not include citations). If there is any interested in helping, let’s chat and coordinate together! Huy chexw a‘ OldManRivers (talk) 06:06, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Do people have a suggestions or style-guide for designing a map to demonstrate the traditional territory. I created this based off the map provided in the Squamish Language Dictionary.  I could design one for this page too.  OldManRivers (talk) 07:43, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
 * You'll want to use a base map that is licensed for re-use. I like the basic idea, provided you have references for it.--Curtis Clark (talk) 16:36, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
 * I could reference both the Squamish Language Dictionary, which has a map of the territory (and associated place-names), along with the Squamish Nation "BC Treaty Process" intent map. There could be other sources to cite in the creation.  Is there any suggestions or maps to look for inspiration?  OldManRivers (talk) 20:03, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Long-unsourced factual claims
Hi. I just removed several statements that were unsourced and tagged as such for over three years. I'm posting them here, because they sounded notable and in case anyone cares enough to reliably source them. --Ds13 (talk) 17:34, 23 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Any children speaking the language were punished and beaten.
 * Bone marrow provides valuable iron and vitamin D.
 * Recent shifts away from a traditional diet, relatively low in carbs and sugar has led to many health problems in the present day Sḵw x wú7mesh community. Diabetes and cholesterol run high compared to North American averages.
 * Can't speak to the bone marrow issue, wouldn't surprise me though; especially re Vitamin D.....but the other two items are readily citable across the board for BC First Nations peoples; see Residential schools (Canada) (not sure that's the title]] and Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Canada). Medical citations for the Skwxwu7mesh diabetes stat might be available; but it's a truism, I know, re the people where I'm from (the St'at'imc) and most elders can't eat "western food"; this pertains to the ongoing damage to the fishery and the traditional foods supply (roots etc) which are threatened by logging activity and other environmentally-destructive activities.  Often cited in hearings, in fact.Skookum1 (talk) 05:21, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

Public-domain Photographs
I found these photographs through the Vancouver Archives. Could someone remind me (or help me!) put this onto Wikipedia and Wikimedia. It has been so long I have completely forgotten how. They are nice photographs that would be wonderful to add. But it also reminds me I need to add some more open source photographs for contemporary times! Too many black & white photographs! Thanks all. OldManRivers (talk) 02:46, 20 February 2012 (UTC)
 * August Jack performing
 * that gives a 404 error now, the others probably do also.Skookum1 (talk) 06:44, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Mary Agnes - Lix̱welút Portrait
 * Squamish men at Sen̓áḵw
 * Mission Church in North Vancouver.
 * Here is another amazing photo! Could someone help me find out if this is available for fair-use or creative commons license?  Thanks! OldManRivers (talk) 07:12, 20 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Flickr photos are fair-use I think, there is a template for them. One pic that I always thought was stunning was the one of the chief's regalia from Qwhy-qwhy in Maj. Mathews' Early Vancouver which would be public domain by now....it's Mathews wearing it, though you can't see that, the chief (August Jack?) didn't want to be photographed wearing it for spiritual reasons.Skookum1 (talk) 06:43, 10 May 2013 (UTC)