Musqueam Totem Pole – Brent Sparrow Jr.
Relates Musqueam origin story of two-headed serpent

ә 0 kw ә уә м xw mǝe kwǝyǝm W MUSQUEAM

We are hǝnqǝminaṁ speaking peoples whose ancestral and unceded territory encompasses the North Shore mountains and Fraser River Delta.

Our name, xmǝkǝyǝm (Musqueam), derives from a flowering plant, malkway, which grows in the Fraser River estuary. One of our ancient histories explains how we became known as the x”mǝ0k”ǝyǝm – People of the mǝkǝy plant.

In a small lake, called x”mǝmq”e:m (now called Camosun  Bog), lived the double-headed serpent. Youth were taught to be cautious and not go near, or they would surely die. This serpent was so massive, its winding path from the lake to the river became the creek flowing through Musqueam.

Everything the serpent passed over died and from its droppings bloomed a new plant, the mak”ay, which grew plentifully and spread. For this reason, the people of long ago named that place xmǝkǝyǝm (place of the mǝkǝy).

“Story of Life,” Susan Point