Daniel Francis

Reading the National Narrative

February 2024

February 28, 2024

Two things to draw your attention to.

First, a fine new book by and about the Squamish Nation. Tiná7 Cht Ti Temíxw: We Come From This Land describes the history and future of the Squamish, whose traditional territory includes Howe Sound and the shores of Burrard Inlet. One chapter, for example, tells the story of Senákw, a village site in False Creek with a complicated history of dispossession where the Squamish are now involved in a large, and controversial,...

February 7, 2024

Joe's Cafe is a landmark on Vancouver's Commercial Drive, not least because of an infamous political protest that broke out there in 1990. When the owner ejected two lesbian patrons for openly kissing on the premises, he touched off a boycott of the cafe by supporters of gay rights. The protest lasted several months until the owner apologized.

What brings this to mind is that the incident is included in a new online "digital storymap" about Vancouver produced by a group of history...