The Making Culture Lab is excited to begin a new collaboration with the Stó:lo Research and Resource Management Centre, the Scowlitz First Nation, Ursus Heritage Consulting, and a diverse project team of archaeologists, software developers and designers. With funding from the Virtual Museum of Canada, we will be working together over the next three years to produce an exhibit titled Sq’éwlets: A Stó:lo-Coast Salish community in the Fraser River Valley.

 

The Sq’éwlets: A Stó:lo-Coast Salish community in the Fraser River Valley exhibit is a community “biography” centering on the Scowlitz First Nation; a tribe of Stó:lō – “People of the River” in the Halq’eméylem language – located in the heart of the Fraser Valley in southwestern B.C. Our story is set at the confluence of the Fraser and Harrison Rivers: a geographical intersection that mirrors many of the current political, economic, social and cultural relations in Western Canada. Working with several partner heritage institutions, we propose to build an easily accessible, interactive, virtual exhibit that highlights how our history and archaeology is interconnected with the histories of both our Indigenous and our non-Native neighbours.