Aboriginal Place Names in BC
The goal of the lesson(s) is to bring in some Aboriginal pedagogy and content with crosscurricular connections between Social Studies and Language Arts. Students will learn about
place names in BC which are of Aboriginal origin. Students will find out through online research
the Aboriginal language or peoples that each place name comes and what the meaning is. Next
class we will share ideas in a talking circle.
1. Ask students to close their eyes, and think about whether they have ever visited any of
these places: Coquitlam, Squamish, Kelowna, Kamloops, etc. Raise your hand as I call
them out. What do they have in common? Talk about the Aboriginal name origin.
a. hand out Aboriginal Place Names worksheet - name origin table (with map of
First Nations in British Columbia at the end)
b. talk about Aboriginal peoples in BC and cultural diversity. Show map of First
Nations in British Columbia on the projector.
c. listen for these First Nations groups or place names in the video: Haida, Nuuchah-nulth, Sto:lo, Squamish, Lillooet, Osoyoos, Gitxsan, Cowichan
2. Watch video "Aboriginal Culture in British Columbia" on Youtube
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtYHZWbw4hA
3. Divide students into groups of 5/6 to work on handout. Do research on iPad: each
student takes a section of the list and looks up the words in that section, filling out the
table. After research, share with your group ~8 min and fill out new parts of the table.
Complete unfinished parts for homework.
4. Hold a talking circle with an object passed around - Tell us something you learned about
Aboriginal peoples and languages in BC. Knowing the meaning and origin of these place
names, do you think of these places in a different way than before; how? Share a story
of a time when you visited one of these locations.
List of Place Names and Meanings
1. Ucluelet: "people of the safe harbour" in the language of the Nuu-chah-nulth.
2. Tsawwassen: "Looking toward the sea" in North Straits Salish
3.
Stikine River and associated placenames. From Shta-KEEN, "great river" in the Tlingit language
4.
Squamish and Squamish River: The river and the town are named after the Skwxwu7mesh people who live
in the area
5.
Sicamous "river circling mountains" in the Shuswap language.[17]
6.
Sechelt: the town is named after the Shishalh people who live in the area
7. Saanich: from WSANEC, the name of one of the local Straits Salish peoples and their
language.
8.
Penticton: "Place to stay forever" in Okanagan
9. Osoyoos: From suius in the Okanagan language, meaning "Narrowing of the waters";
10. Okanagan: Okanagan language place name uknaq
11. Nanaimo: Named after the Snuneymuxw people.
12. Lillooet: adapted from the proper name for the Lower St'at'imc people, the Lil'wat of Mt. Currie. Lil'wat means
"wild onions".
13. Kootenay: derived from the proper name of the Kootenay people, Ktunaxa
14. Kitimat- people of the snow
15. Kelowna: "ki?lawna?" meaning a male Grizzly bear in the Okanagan language.
16. Kamloops: anglicization of the Shuswap word Tk'emlups, meaning "where the rivers meet".
17. Cowichan: from Quwutsun, "land warmed by the sun" or "warm country" (Hulquminum)
18.
Coquitlam: "Small red salmon" in Halqemeylem (Upriver Halkomelem). Derived from the
name of the Kwikwetlem people. Another and more usual translation is "stinking of fish
slime" or "stinking fish", thought to be a reference to the Kwikwetlem people's role as
slaves to the Katzie and Kwantlen as fish butchers.
19. Comox: either from the Chinook Jargon for "dog" (kamuks), or from the Kwak'wala for "place of plenty".
20. Chilliwack: "Going back up" in Halqemeylem.
Name: ______________________ Date: ______________________
Aboriginal Place Names in British Columbia
Place Name
1
Chilliwack
Comox
Coquitlam
Cowichan
Kamloops
Kelowna
Kitimat
Kootenay
First Nations Peoples or
Language
Meaning
Lillooet
10
Nanaimo
11
Okanagan
12
Osoyoos
13
Penticton
14
Saanich
15
Sechelt
16
Sicamous
17
Squamish
18
Stikine River
19
Tsawwassen
20
Ucluelet
