Our Xwelmexw Names

[Clarence Pennier]: My English name is Clarence Pennier. I carry two Xwelmexw names; one is Xáyslemtel Sq'éwlets and that name was given to me by my cousin Shóyshqwelwhet, Gwen Point. And my other name is Hi:olemtel. And that name was given to me by my cousin, Willie Seymour from Stz'uminus.

[Kwáxen]: Aboriginal name is Kwáxen.

[Móyō]: My name is Pearl, and my Indian name is Móyō.

[TsTsThumNoMit]: My Halkomelem name is TsTsThumNoMit.

[Kupshóye]: Kupshóye. I’m originally named the female version after my papa Ralph, my great-grandpa. His is Kúpsha. And it originally comes from Sts'ailes.

[Hul-Lath-Tul]: Um, my name is Joseph Chapman. I’m from Sq’éwlets First Nation. My Xwelmexw name, which is my Indian name, is Hul-Lath-Tul. It comes from Chilliwack Lake; it was given to me by my father. From the Semáth First Nation.

[Ōltus]: Well my name is, uh, Reg Phillips. My Indian name is Ōltus. My Indian name comes from Harrison Lake. It means “a seal hunter”.

[Xá:wlets]:My traditional name is Xá:wlets; It’s my great-great-grandfather’s name and it was passed down to me I believe in the early 90’s. And I share that name with my son, Andy Junior.

[Ōltus]: And the names like Sq’éwlets and Sts'ailes are pronounced a little bit differently than we’ve known in the past. And I believe those are the right um, the right way to pronounce those names. Like, uh, Sq’éwlets means like the bend in the river. And uh, as we can see, just going down to uh, towards the Fraser River, and Sts'ailes where I was born and raised is um, is uh the beating heart. That’s where the Sts'ailes name comes from.