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Historic first for Vancouver's new šxʷməθkʷəyə̓ masəm Street
DAN FUMANO
Ottawa Citizen
Jun 13, 2025
Vancouver's newest street name is set to be the city's first officially named in an alphabet other than English: šxʷməθkʷəyəmasəm Street.
The new name, which comes from the hən̓ T̓ əmin̓ əm̓ language of the Musqueam First Nation, will replace Trutch Street on Vancouver's West Side if city council approves a staff report at a meeting next week.
The report says the Musqueam First Nation has long advocated for removing the name of British Columbia's first lieutenant-governor, Joseph Trutch, from the street as a way to “acknowledge Trutch's racist legacy, reduce the prominence of his name, and advance reconciliation efforts.”
Trutch denied the existence of Indigenous rights and reduced the size of reserve lands, the city website says, and is now “acknowledged as being openly racist and hostile to First Nation Peoples.”
In July 2021, Vancouver's then-mayor Kennedy Stewart
proposed removing the Trutch name and choosing another picked by the Musqueam chief and council, a move unanimously supported by council. In September 2022, the Musqueam Nation, or xʷməθkʷəyəm, provided the name “šxʷməθkʷəyəmasəm Street,” which translated into English as “Musqueamview Street.”
Some Vancouver neighbourhoods, including Chinatown and the Punjabi Market, have street signs featuring other languages along with the official street name, such as Pender or Main Street. The difference in the new proposal would be that šxʷməθkʷəyəmasəm will be the street's sole official name.
“In accordance with xʷməθkʷəyəm wishes, the legal name of the street will be solely šxʷməθkʷəy̓ əmasəm Street, making this Vancouver's first street named in hən̓ T̓ əmin̓ əm̓ ,” the city report says. “With no fluent speakers left, this change is a landmark moment for the revitalization of the xʷməθkʷəyəm language, weaving the display of
hən̓ T̓ əmin̓ əm̓ into the public fabric of city life.”
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