Qiqayt [khee kate]
Feature Type:Former First Nation Village - A place formerly inhabited by First Nations' people, with no current population or that is usually uninhabited.
Status: Not official
Relative Location: E side of the Fraser River opposite New Westminster, New Westminster Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 49°12'19"N, 122°53'24"W at the approximate population centre of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 92G/2
 
Origin Notes and History:

An ancient Tsawwassen village site known as qiq8 (the Coast Salish spelling in 2005 draft for Tsawwassen Final Agreement), is located on the east bank of the Fraser River under todays Patullo Bridge. Spelled Qiqayt in November 2008 information from Tsawwassen First Nation. An image of the written name shows the preferred orthography, as identified in Tsawwassen Final Agreement, Appendix O-4, 2008.

Source: BC place name cards, correspondence and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff.

The origin and meaning of this Hun'qum'i'num word are lost to pre-contact times; however it is known widely amongst the Coast Salish communities of the lower Fraser. ("Tsawwassen First Nation Traditional Mapping Study" by Tsawwassen Elders, 1995.)

Source: "Tsawwassen First Nation Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Study" by Tsawwassen members, 2001-02.

The chief at this community, Whattlekinum, was the son of a Tsawwassen woman and was trained at Tsawwassen. While closely associated with the Kwantlen people, this former fishing camp was used by the Tsawwassen and other Hun'qum'i'num groups during late summers.
Salmon and sturgeon were caught and processed here before being brought back for storage at the longhouses of the winter villages. This was also the site of a church in which many marriages and baptisms were conducted for the Hun'qum'i'num people of the Lower Fraser. (Place names, as they are known to Tsawwassen, are shared between generations by elders and other knowledgeable community members, but several written accounts also exist, including: "The Coast Salish of British Columbia", by Homer G. Barnett (University of Oregon Press, 1955), "Katzie Ethnographic Notes", by Wayne Suttles (British Columbia Provincial Museum, 1955), "Archaeological Investigations at Tsawwassen, B.C., Volume 1", by Arcas Consulting Archaeologists, Ltd. 1991, and "Tsawwassen First Nation Traditional Mapping Study", by Tsawwassen Elders, 1995.)

Source: "Tsawwassen First Nation Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Study" by Tsawwassen members, 2001-02.