The first of five First Nations house posts to be erected along Port Moody’s Shoreline trail is now in place.
The post, by Squamish Nation artist Xwalacktun, is at the viewing platform near the Old Mill ruins.
Four more posts are expected to be erected through the rest of the year as part of the In the Presence of Ancestors project that reasserts the original caretakers of Coast Salish lands and waters in what is now called Port Moody. The posts, carved by artists from the səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), q̓ic̓əy (Katzie), and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nations, will be placed at strategic locations along the trail, between Rocky Point and Old Orchard parks.
The project’s artistic director, Tasha Faye Evans, said Xwalacktun’s post “invites us to remember that we are part of a family living here on this earth.”
She added, “When we remember that we are related then we can remember that we have a sacred responsibility to participate in creating a future of health and prosperity for all our relatives.”
All the posts will eventually be accompanied by interpretive signs explaining their meaning and the story of their creation.
“The house posts will commemorate each Nation uniquely by expressing who they are, their values, and their story,” said a report to council touting the project in 2021, adding such posts and welcome figures were once a common sight along Port Moody’s shores.
Several of the posts were blessed in a special ceremony in 2023 as part of National Indigenous Peoples Day.
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