salalus is the shashishalhem name for Madeira Park (community) and the surrounding areas. The name salalus refers to the entrance to the channel/canoe pass, harvesting/fishing sites and village located at and near what is now Sechelt Band Land 20, Madeira Park. (Advice from shíshálh Nation Stewardship and Territorial Land Management Division, 2019)

Source: included with note

The place name salalus derives from a combination of the following shishalh words: sal- : This form, which has a basic meaning of 'location', never occurs by itself. It is always used with endings (Page 737, Sechelt Dictionary). The combination of sal and -al mean almost at a location -us : Opening. This is a very common ending in shishalh. In this instance the -us is referencing an opening to a location (Page 899, Sechelt Dictionary). The words combine to form the word salalus which means bay (coastal indentation), entrance to channel/pass/etc., mouth of river (Page 738, Sechelt Dictionary). (Advice from shíshálh Nation Stewardship and Territorial Land Management Division, 2019)

Source: included with note

salalus
• 's' and 'l' sounds are as in English.
• Both 'a's are pronounced like the 'a' in English 'far'.
• The 'u' sounds like the 'o' in English 'go'.
• The first two syllables have strong stress.
salalus is not capitalized.
(Advice from shíshálh Nation Stewardship and Territorial Land Management Division, 2019)

Source: included with note

Acknowledging with gratitude Raquel Joe (ch’elkwilwet), Museum Curator, tems swiya Museum, shíshálh Nation, and Steven Feschuk (xwash), Protector of Culture, shíshálh Nation, for providing the audio pronunciation.

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

To hear recordings of place names and learn other she shashishalhem words and phrases, visit shíshálh Nation’s language webpage: https://shishalh.com/culture-language/sechelt-language/

Source: included with note