2040 Official Community Plan

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The City of Chilliwack is the eastern gateway of the

Lower Mainland and one of the key urban centres

in the Fraser Valley. Its history began with First Na-

tions, and in the post-contact time it evolved through

trade, farming and European settlement.

The City recognizes its aboriginal heritage, particu-

larly in its Official Community Plan that affects lands,

developments, all residents and the relationships

with First Nations. The Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribe provides

the following First Nations’ perspective on Chilliwack

in history, and in its current development and future

outlook:

“The City of Chilliwack is within S’όlh Téméxw (Stό:lō

Territory), with the largest population of aboriginal

people in close proximity to Vancouver. The Ts’elx-

wéyeqw and Pilalt are the two Stό:lō tribes whose

territories are directly associated with the Chilliwack

municipal area. Today’s Indian Act Bands were estab-

lished in the late 1800s from some of the many his-

toric villages of these two tribes, including Cheam,

Kwaw kwaw Apilt, and Skwah (Pilalt); and Aitchelitz,

Skowkale, Shxwhà:y, Soowahlie, Squiala, Tzeachten,

and Yakweakwioose (Ts’elxwéyeqw). Pilalt villages

and reserves are located along the Hope River. Ts’elx-

wéyeqw villages and reserves are located along the

Chilliwack River system.

The City derives its name from the Halq’eméylem

word “Ts’elxwéyeqw” which elder Albert Louie, of

Yakweakwioose, talked about it meaning ‘as going as

far as you can go upriver’ in reference to travelling

by canoe up the Chilliwack River sloughs leading to

Soowahlie. Halq’emeylem is the traditional language

of the Stό:lō (People of the River).

Ts’elxwéyeqw and Pilalt history, as Stό:lō tribes, ex-

tends thousands of years in the past. Archaeological

sites and evidence located within the City demon-

strate the long term occupation and use by the Pilalt

and Ts’elxwéyeqw.

After European contact at the turn of the 18th centu-

ry, the Stό:lō population declined significantly, reach-

ing a low point in the early 1900s. Since then, the

Stό:lō population has increased and now has one of

the fastest growing demographic profiles in the re-

gion. The Chilliwack area and surroundings contin-

ue to be used by the Ts’elxwéyeqw, Pilalt and other

Stό:lō people for many traditional cultural purposes

and practices.

The Stό:lō people contribute to the local economy in

many ways, through natural resource development,

cultural tourism, educational and economic devel-

opment partnerships, employment (the Stό:lō Na-

tion service delivery agency is one of Chilliwack’s the

largest employers), environmentally friendly con-

structions (the Stό:lō Resource Centre in Chilliwack

maintains the only LEED Gold standard in the Cen-

tral Fraser Valley), and sustainable resource manage-

ment (the Ts’elxwéyeqw manages natural resources

in the Chilliwack River Valley and for the Pilalt in the

Wahleach Lake area). The Stό:lō people have histori-

cally been and will continue to be an integral part of

the Chilliwack community.”

The recent settlement dates back to the Gold Rush of

1858 when over 20,000 miners passed through the

area, and some of them decided to farm and sup-

ply provisions to the travellers. The socio-econom-

ic backdrop set Chilliwack on a path of growth and

community building, which is a testimony to its as-

pirations and values and the regional influences that

have shaped the community.

Amidst the zoning bylaws and planning concepts of

the 1970s rose the first Official Community Plan in

1983 (under the BC Municipal Act). This plan rec-

ognized Chilliwack’s new municipal identity as the

District of Chilliwack, which was formed in 1979 as

a result of the amalgamation of the historic Town-

ship of Chilliwhack and the City of Chilliwack. The