Discovering Kwilákm

Photo: Will Husby

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Introduction
Map of Kwilákm
Explore Kwilákm

Welcome to Discovering Kwilákm

For thousands of years, the Squamish people harvested shellfish in the estuary where Terminal Creek, Nex̱wlélex̱wm / Bowen Island’s largest stream, drains into the sea. They called this place Kwilákm: Clam Bay.

Oyster catcher walks on the water's edge. — Black Oyster Catcher. Photo: Will Husby

In 1860, the Royal Navy named the chief geographical features of Bowen Island, including the bay called Deep Cove (now Deep Bay)—named to highlight the bay’s value as a protected anchorage, sheltered from winter gales. During the Resort Era, Kwilákm was called Hotel Bay. In the 1970s, settlers renamed it to honour early
pioneer Joseph Mannion.

Kwíla̓km Map

Click below to highlight each area on the map.

Terminal Creek

Lagoon

Beaches

Shallows

Place Names

To the best of our knowledge, the Squamish word Kwilákm is the correct name for what we also call Deep Bay and Mannion Bay. Currently, we are pursuing clarification on the name from the Squamish Nation

Old close up map of Bowen Island. — The Sko-Mish-Oath map of Squamish villages and landmarks in Burrard Inlet and Howe Sound. Photo: City of Vancouver Archives.

Old map featured Bowen Island. — An enlarged section of the Sko-Mish-Oath map featuring Bowen Island

The Sko-Mish-Oath map published in 1937 by J.S. Matthews and based on conversations with Chief Khahtsahlano, shows the name “Qwel-huom” for Deep Bay, a name phonetically similar to Kwilákm.

Why is Kwilákm important?

Male and female mergansers in the water — Male and female common merganser, Kwilákm / Mannion Bay.Photo: Judith McBride

Kwilákm is both a centre of human history on Bowen and highly valued by many wild species: fish (particularly juvenile salmon, herring, and anchovy), eelgrass (a nursery for so many species), migrating shorebirds, and water birds like these courting mergansers.

What makes Kwilákm so rich? It’s an estuary—Bowen Island’s largest—a place where stream waters mix with ocean. Stream sediments deposit to form productive tidal flats, and organic debris and nutrients carried by the stream feed life in the ocean.

Explore Kwilákm

For a sampling of the many habitats and creatures of the estuary of Kwilákm (DeepBay / Mannion Bay), follow Bob Turner as he explores its waters of from the freshwater of Terminal Creek, downstream to the brackish waters of The Lagoon, and into the sheltered saltwater of Kwilákm.

Click on the tiles below to begin your own exploration of Kwilákm.