Map excerpt from the book Saltwater People by Dave Elliott Sr.

 ÍY, C̸NES QENOṈE ṮÁ : It is good to see you all here. We are the WSÁNEĆ people, all the land on the Saanich Peninsula is our winter home. All the islands in between Vancouver Island all the Gulf islands and the San Juan islands are the traditional W̱SÁNEĆ territory and the homeland of the WSÁNEĆ people. We have always travelled and lived throughout all these islands. We have many places such as we have here. This island is SḴŦAḴ. ÍY SȻÁĆEL HÁLE. - J,SIṈTEN Dr. John Elliott


For resources on pronunciation of SENĆOŦEN words, please visit the First Voices website firstvoices.com/sencoten

Since 2018, CBMF Society has run an Indigenous Arts program, in an effort to highlight the phenomenal artistic practices of the W̱SÁNEĆ people, and to correct the erasure of these practices by colonialism. Explore some of our work with WSÁNEĆ collaborators at walkingforwardwiththepast.com/events

This page is a work in progress. Please revisit it for more about the arts, culture, and history of WSÁNEĆ people on SḴŦAḴ / Mayne Island!


The following videos were created in 2020 and 2021 with support from CBMF. J’SIṈTEN Dr John Elliott, a respected Elder from the W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip) First Nation who has played a pivotal role in the preservation and revitalization of the SENĆOŦEN language, shares WSÁNEĆ stories about this place. The HELI,SET Drum Group share a performance and invitation to the community on SḴŦAḴ / Mayne to dance, and more WSÁNEĆ youths perform a jingle dance.