This photograph shows the Xwe’etay/Lasqueti Archaeology team members is part of The Island in the Middle of Everywhere exhibition. Photo credit: Michelle Munkittrick, Brave Art Media.
4790 MARINE AVENUE, OCTOBER 3, 2025— The qathet Museum & Archives invites you on a remarkable journey to Xwe’etay, also known as Lasqueti Island, part of the Northern Gulf Islands in British Columbia. Through a series of stunning photographs and a video, The Island in the Middle of Everywhere showcases the archaeological work in progress and the beauty of the island itself. On loan from Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, the exhibition opened October 3, 2025 at the qathet Museum & Archives in Powell River, BC.
The Xwe’etay/Lasqueti Archaeological Project (XLAP) featured in the exhibition has brought together Coast Salish peoples and settler residents to honour the age-old Indigenous presence on Lasqueti Island. The island is the traditional home of Northern Coast Salish peoples. Before Europeans arrived, the Northern Coast Salish skillfully managed the land and sea of Xwe’etay to create a rich and secure supply of fish, clams, plants, and other foods. Along the shore, below the high-tide line, terraces were built to increase clam numbers and productivity. Fish traps captured salmon and herring. In grassy areas, Indigenous cultivators raised beds of the beautiful purple camas lily, harvested for its starchy bulb.
These practices created a landscape of food that fed generations of Xwe’etay residents. Today, the XLAP archaeological team is uncovering how Indigenous people sustainably produced food over thousands of years. The remains of these practices are reminders of the deep history of Indigenous People on Xwe’etay and why it is vitally important to protect that heritage today.
The exhibition was co-curated by the XLAP and the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum with the support of Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the Aquaculture Initiative. Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation oversees three national museums of science and innovation in Ottawa — the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and the Canada Science and Technology Museum. This exhibition reflects Ingenium’s ongoing commitment to its Indigenous Foodways research initiative. The exhibition is on display at the qathet Museum & Archives until January 4, 2025.
