Vancouver’s Trutch Street officially renamed to šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street, 4 years after initial decision
Posted June 17, 2025 10:14 am.
Last Updated June 17, 2025 1:00 pm.
The City of Vancouver followed through on an almost four-year-old decision Tuesday, and finally officially renamed a street in a West Side neighbourhood at the request of a local Host First Nation.
In July 2021, the then city council voted to rename Trutch Street, named after B.C.’s first governor general, Joseph Trutch, after a request from xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam Nation). The City of Vancouver is entirely on ancestral and unceded Musqueam territory, along with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Trutch is widely acknowledged for being openly racist and hostile towards First Nations people. Trutch was born in England and came to Canada in 1859. When writing to family in the United Kingdom about the Indigenous people he encountered in Oregon Territory, he referred to them as “lazy” and “ugly.”
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!Trutch also claimed Indigenous people had no right to their land, and was instrumental in decreasing the size of reserves by 90 per cent.
“The negative effects of his discriminatory beliefs and policies are still felt today,” the City of Vancouver states on its website.
In 2022, Musqueam gifted the City of Vancouver with the new hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language name, šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street, at a renaming ceremony held according to traditional customs and law.
In English, the name translates to Musqueamview Street, and phonetically sounds like “sh-MUS-kwee-uhm-AWH-sum.”
In recent years, some statues of other colonial figures have already been removed from public places in B.C., including Justice Matthew Begbie outside the New Westminster courthouse and Sir John A. MacDonald at Victoria City Hall.
The discovery of unmarked graves on the grounds of former Residential Schools across Canada, including B.C., has prompted reconsideration of naming streets and institutions after figures who were instrumental in perpetuating the genocide of Indigenous people in Canada in cities across the country.
“As part of the City’s ongoing commitment to truth and reconciliation, Trutch Street will be renamed šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street on June 17, 2025. Renaming the street is an important act of reconciliation, and the City has been working closely with Musqueam to ensure this work is done with respect, collaboration, and care,” the city states.
New šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street signs will go up along the 18 blocks on June 20, the city adds.
The city shares that renaming the street is also in part to help revitalize the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language.
“In accordance with xʷməθkʷəy̓əm wishes, the legal name of the street will be solely šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street, making this Vancouver’s first street named in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the language of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm. With no fluent speakers left, this change is a landmark moment for the revitalization of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm language, weaving the display of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ into the public fabric of city life,” the staff report to council explains.
“Supporting hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ to once again be heard and seen throughout these lands and waters is a powerful tool for reconciliation and affirming the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Language is an essential part of culture and identity, and it connects people to land and place.”
Musqueam Chief yəχʷyaχʷələq Wayne Sparrow told council on Tuesday that he has heard some concerns from the community regarding the pronunciation of the new name.
“We asked our language department to come out with something that’s very simple, because, like I said at the beginning of the comments, I’m learning [hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓], and to be able to pronounce the names and do that, and I’m confident we’ll get there,” Sparrow said.
“The colonial system forced us to speak English and took our language away, and I have all the confidence in the world that the people that speak English will walk with our staff to learn the other way.
“The only thing is we won’t punish them if they can’t speak it. We won’t put them in corners and punish them for not being able to speak our language. That’s the difference. We will make sure that we can work along, and we invite each and every one of the residents to come down and learn, and let’s be part of the solution,” he explained.
