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The Hidden Story Behind Vancouver's Twin Peaks: Canadiana Series - Season 2

Maple Leaf This item is only available for Canadian orders.
This title is a part of the series Canadiana Series - Season 2


Catalogue Number:  UPP016
Producer:  The Canadiana Project Inc.
Producing Agencies:  The Canadiana Project Inc.
Subject:  Canadian History, Canadian Social Studies, First Nations Studies, History, Indigenous Issues, Indigenous Peoples, Social Studies
Language:  English
Grade Level:  3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 - 12
Country Of Origin:  Canada
Copyright Year:  2019
Running Time:  14:14
Closed Captions:  Yes


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“The Lions”, twin peaks towering over Vancouver, have given their name to many BC places and things; but Joe Sa7plek and Mary Lίxwelut Capilano, leaders of the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) Nation, knew these peaks as the Two Sisters. Settlers replaced traditional place names across Canada with names from their homelands. These twin peaks reminded John Hamilton Gray of the British lions in London’s Trafalgar Square, and the new name persisted. Settlers displaced the Squamish (“skohomish”) people, and almost obliterated their culture, but the name Capilano (anglicized version of Kia'palano) is found today all over Joe and Mary’s traditional territory. Joe Capilano tirelessly campaigned for native rights in the late 19th century, at the same time as Pauline Johnson, a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) mixed race poet from Southern Ontario, toured with her popular stage performances. She met Joe Capilano in London where he was petitioning King Edward, and when she retired in Vancouver, the Capilanos shared traditional Coast Salish stories with her. Her last book, “The Legends of Vancouver”, recorded the story of “The Two Sisters”: twin sisters brought peace and brotherhood to two warring nations by inviting their enemies to a celebratory potlach, and the Creator preserved their memory on the nearby mountain crest.


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