WHISTLER, B.C. — The large wooden doors of the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre open slightly and a small boy pokes his head through the narrow gap.
“G’day. Can I come in?” asks the young Australian who looks like a mini Crocodile Dundee.
“Of course you can,” says an Indigenous woman named Allison, who invites the youngster over to where she’s weaving a colourful shawl using techniques her ancestors perfected thousands of years ago.
The soft-spoken Allison, one of 20 First Nations people who work at the one-of-a-kind Indigenous cultural centre, tells her young visitor the technique she is employing to create the detailed garment was almost lost but “elders here at the centre taught me and about 200 others how to weave. Now this tradition will live on forever.”
The cultural centre, which sits opposite the iconic Fairmont Chateau Whistler Hotel in this outdoor Mecca, opened in 2008 and was a hit with foreign visitors who attended the 2010 Winter Olympics, which Whistler co-hosted along with Vancouver.
It's one of the great legacies of the 2010 Winter Games and features the largest collection of Squamish and Lil’wat art and artefacts ever assembled.
“Actually,” points out a member of staff, “the name cultural centre at the entrance often confuses people and that’s why some are hesitant to enter; they’re not sure if it’s open to the public.”

Above: The impressive Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre stands tall in Whistler, BC.

The greatest achievement of the cultural centre, according to those who oversaw its early beginnings, was the collaboration of the Lil’wat and Squamish people to make it a reality.
“This is the only place in North America where two First Nations People have come together to create something like this. Negotiations were very delicate and in the end it was decided that everything had to be split 50-50 — so half our staff are Lil’wat and half are Squamish,” an official tells me.
What those who run the centre seem most proud of, though, is that 50 per cent of the funding to build this marvelous building was raised by the Lil’wat and Squamish people themselves — the rest came from different levels of government and corporate sponsors.
Meanwhile, over in the corner, the young Australian listens intently as the delightful Allison explains how her grandparents wove shawls, similar to the one she’s working on today, for their 1906 journey to London where they presented Indigenous land claims to England’s King Edward VII.
“Wow,” exclaims the wide-eyed young man as Allison continues.
“But there were no sheep in these parts back then,” she tells him, “so my ancestors raised woolly dogs and sheared them just like you Australians shear sheep today.”

Above: Indigenous guides and performers enlighten visitors from around the world at the centre.

Australians, Americans, Europeans — people from all over the world, an average of 30,000 per year — make their way to the centre’s entrance and are awed by what they find inside.
The young Australian is mesmerized by the wealth of Indigenous artefacts displayed over the centre’s three floors.  “The canoes are really neat,” he reports.
Between 50 and 100 items are on display at any one time in the fascinating 30,400-sq-ft centre, where staff perform traditional dances, play unique tribal instruments and educate visitors on Indigenous culture and traditions.
The centre’s gift shop is filled with books on Indigenousl history and the woven scarves and blankets created on-site by artisans like Allison are scooped up by tourist as treasured keepsakes.
“Where did your people come from?” the young Aussie asks another staff member.
“There’s proof now (unearthed in nearby Oregon) that our people have been here (the Pacific Northwest) for over 10,000 years — prior to the last Ice Age,” the Lil’wat guide tells the young man. “There’s also a lot of evidence now that my people originally came from Asia — across the Bering Strait from China and Russia.”
“Australians really relate to what they see here because of their own Aboriginal culture, and Europeans are fascinated by the displays and cultural events we host,” says Allison.

Above: Foreign visitors love the hands-on experience they are afforded at the Lil'wat centre.

Interestingly, it’s not the first time the Squamish and Lil’wat have co-existed in one place. The two nations actually lived together in a place called Spo7z (pronounced Spoez — the 7 represents a “slash” in the Squamish language), very near where the town of Squamish is located today.
“The Squamish and Lil’wat would actually vacation near where Whistler is now,” says Allison.
Things weren’t always harmonious between the Squamish and Lil’wat back then, though. But when a landslide wiped out a lot of their shared village, the incident was taken as a sign from the “Creator” that the two nations should settle their differences and relations were much improved after that — and obviously continue today.
The 2010 Winter Olympics produced a lot of winners but the biggest winners are the people who come to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre because this place is pure gold.