Vancouver’s former Trutch Street now Musqueamview and šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓

Trutch Street runs between 18th and 1st Avenues on the city’s west side in the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam people.

Vancouver’s Musqueam First Nation hosted an emotional public ceremony on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to unveil the new moniker that will soon replace a painful sign of the past.

“Trutch is the culmination of all the issues that bring forward Truth and Reconciliation Day,” said Musqueam elder Larry Grant.

Trutch Street, named after B.C.’s first Lieutenant Governor Joseph Trutch, runs between 18th and 1st Avenues on the city’s west side in the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam people.

Trutch, who arrived in the province in 1859 and became BC’s chief commissioner of land and works in the 1860s, was considered an extreme racist.

According to the Musqueam Indian Band, Trutch was openly hostile to First Nations, denied the existence of Aboriginal rights, and did not recognize previously established Indian Reserves – resulting in reserves shrinking throughout the province.

Grant said Trutch’s name is associated with the trauma inflicted by colonial governments and residential schools.

“Some of those survivors that come home do not recognize their families,” said Grant.

Grant, who manages the Musqueam’s language and culture department, was the ceremonial speaker at Friday’s event.