On October 5, the government of British Columbia released an official statement outlining new legislation for two B.C. provincial parks. It stated that Chilliwack Lake Park and Newcastle Island Marine Park will be renamed to reflect their respective ancestral place names in order to build upon reconciliation acts with Indigenous peoples.
Although this was originally proposed back in 2019, the amendment has now been officially introduced following a two-year B.C. park management plan that collaborated with the Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribe and the S’ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance. According to the government’s official statement, the long term goal of the plan is to “[honour] Indigenous cultural and spiritual history”. Chilliwack Lake will be renamed to Sxótsaqel/Chilliwack Lake Park (pronounced skot-sa-qel), which means “sacred lake” in Halq’eméylem.
The decision to rename the provincial park was made in an effort to recognize Indigenous culture and connections with the land. As this area is the ancestral homeland of the Ts’elxwéyeqw people, the lake not only holds significant value to the tribe but the name change can educate non-Indigenous people about these territorial connections and Indigenous history.
The Sxótsaqel/Chilliwack Lake Park name change was a part of a list of amendments made to the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act, which also included the opening of a new B.C. provincial park dedicated to protecting the ecosystems of Indigenous peoples on Vancouver Island.
Chilliwack Lake is located in the upper Chilliwack River Valley and is a popular spot for locals and tourists to hike, swim, canoe, and fish. The vast stretch of water showcases many forms of wildlife and environmental ecosystems.
The Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribe is a part of the Stó:lo (Stah-lo) nation, and they are the First People of the Chilliwack River Watershed. As part of the Stó:lo nation, they ancestrally relied on the Fraser River and maintained strong connections with the water systems in the Fraser Valley. They settled across an incredibly large scope of land which covers the entire Chilliwack River Valley.
Image: Andrea Sadowski/The Cascade
Sydney is a BA English major, creative writing student, who has been a content contributor for The Cascade and is now the Opinion editor. In 7th grade, she won $100 in a writing contest but hasn’t made an earning from writing since. In the meantime, she is hoping that her half-written novels will write themselves, be published, and help pay the bills.