Matsqui people

The Matsqui people are a Sto:lo Aboriginal group located in the Central Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada. Their band government is the Matsqui First Nation, a member of the Sto:lo Nation tribal council. The core traditional territory of the Matsqui stretches along the Fraser River from Crescent Island to Sumas Mountain, and southward beyond the Canada-United States border. Today the band administers four reserves and has a population of 203 (which has been steadily growing over recent decades).

Ancient legendary stories (known as sxwõxwiyám in the Halq'eméylem language) reveal the ancestors of the current Matsqui people to have occupied Matsqui territory from time immemorial. Like other Sto:lo communities, the Matsqui collectively inherited traits (or "gifts") from their shared legendary ancestors. Sto:lo sxwõxwiyám describe how the Matsqui tribe was founded by a man named Sk-Elê'yitl who, along with his son, was transformed into Beaver by Xá:ls the legendary transformer. Beaver was responsible for ensuring that the sockeye salmon were available to all of the Sto:lo communities on the Fraser River, and was the first to bring fire to the Sto:lo people.

Another sxwõxwiyám explains the origins of a large transformer stone on the eastern edge of Aldergrove Regional Park. Known to the Matsqui as "Méqel" (Halq'eméylem for "nose"), the stone was created by Xá:ls after witnessing a man who started sneezing when enemies were drawing near. Xá:ls was so impressed with this talent that he permanently transformed the man into the stone nose.

The Matsqui are closely related to the Nooksack people in Washington, and are notable as one of only two Sto:lo groups that were historically bilingual in the Halq'eméylem and Noocksack languages. Their bilingualism has much to do with the nature of Matsqui territory, which features a system of trails, streams, and lakes that connect the Fraser River to the Nooksack River in Washington. The word "Matsqui" (Máthxwi) itself may be derived from máth, a root plant that grew in the large, easily traveled marshes that were once abundant in the Matsqui Prairie area.

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