Our traditional territory is the geographic area occupied by our ancestors for community, social, economic, and spiritual purposes.  We have never given up title on this land, nor have we ever been compensated for it.

Our ancestors traveled widely throughout the Coast Salish area for fishing, hunting, visiting family, etc.  Cowichan’s annually fished the Fraser River, as far away as Yale, and in fact, Lulu Island – now the site of Vancouver International Airport – was our traditional summer base camp.  We traveled all over the southern half of Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and as far south as Sumas and Nooksak in Washington State.

Hul’qumi’num place names densely blanket our traditional territory.  Each name was chosen to reflect the significance of the site and today provide the key to the rich history and extensive knowledge of the land and resources owned by the Hul’qumi’num people.

Our core traditional territory – the area under discussion through the Treaty process – does not extend quite this far but does encompass the territory we used regularly in our day-to-day activities.