Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC)

Building

Our Sq’éwlets ancestors built all that we needed--houses and canoes, boxes and bowls--from local materials. Xepay (redcedar) wood was one of our favorite and most widely used materials. Over thousands of years, our ancestors crafted a tool kit including drills, celts, knives, and saws for building. We re-used broken cooking stones as construction fill. Community planners, architects and builders were all part of our community.

Six pieces of polished stone objects shaped into rectangles with a bevelled edge.
Archaeological excavation site showing large holes and cuts in the bedrock.
An open archaeological excavation with a hole exposed in the dirt.
A person examining an archaeological excavation site with a trowel in hand.
A tiny white stone fashioned into a triangular shape with a point.
A tiny white stone fashioned into a triangular shape with a point.
Three black and one white pieces of stone fashioned into points.
A person kneeling next to flat-fitted square stones, taking measurements.
A dirt profile showing layers of burned earth, char, and ash. There is a trowel stuck in the soil in the foreground.
Six light grey irregularly shaped boulders, lining a hole in the ground.
Archaeological excavation site showing a flat area with holes in the ground. Trees and grass are in the background.
Archaeological excavation site showing a hole in the ground.
Archaeological excavation site showing an oblong hole in the ground.