Seabird Island First Nation

The Seabird Island First Nation, or Seabird Island Band, is a band government of the Sto:lo people located on Sea Bird Island in the Upper Fraser Valley region, 3 km east of Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada. They are a member government of the Stó:lō Tribal Council.

The Seabird Island Band is a multi-faceted First Nations Band that includes government, business, service and non-profit services.

The story of the Seabird Indian Band began over 130 years ago in June 1879 with Gilbert Malcolm Sproat (19 April 1834 – 4 June 1913), a representative of the Indian Reserve Commission, would consult with First Nations people and later allocate the island known then as Skow-a-kull (correct spelling Sq'éwqel) as a reserve to be held in-common by the people from Popkum, Skw'átits, Ohamil, Ska-wah-look, Hope, Union Bar and Yale because the land they currently resided on could not sustain crops, and the land on Seabird Island would provide rich soil and provide a place for First Nations families to live their lives on.

Seabird Island speaks a mix of Halq'eméylem and Thompson language. The Halq'eméylem name for the Seabird Island Band, Sq'éwqel, is translated to "Turn in the River", the English name Seabird Island would be taken from the June 1858 groundings of a transport paddle-wheeler, the SS Sea Bird, on an island bar in the Fraser River across from Seabird Island.

The Seabird Indian Band, through Health Transfer Agreements with various First Nations Bands, provides a number of services including:

The Seabird Island Band is governed by one Chief and a nine-person Council, recently reduced to an eight-person council (2017 Election) that share the responsibility of representing Seabird Island Band at all government levels as well as to other groups, ensuring a strong united voice for the Seabird Island Band locally, provincially and nationally, with specific emphasis and involvement with Stó:lō Tribal Council, First Nation Summit and the Assembly of First Nations. The current Chief is Clem Seymour.

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