Community Of Yarrow
Yarrow is a small community located 90 kilometres east of Vancouver and 12 km southwest of downtown Chilliwack, in British Columbia, Canada. It is in the Fraser Valley at the foot of Vedder Mountain. The village was first settled by Mennonites in the late 1920s, following the draining of Sumas Lake and the reclamation of the former lake bed for agriculture. Yarrow is located within the City of Chilliwack.
City of Chilliwack
Chilliwack is located in the Upper Fraser Valley, 100 kilometres (60 mi) east of Vancouver on the Trans Canada Highway. The city is bounded on the north by the Fraser River, and on the south by the Canada-United States border.
Chilliwack is surrounded by tall mountain peaks, such as Mount Cheam and Slesse Mountain, and large rivers (the Fraser and Vedder).
Stó:lō Nation
The Yarrow Ecovillage is located on the Indigenous homelands of the Stó:lō people. In Halq’eméylem – the language of the Stó:lō – the land, waters and abundant life of the lower Fraser Canyon and Fraser Valley, and the many watersheds that feed into the Fraser River, are called S’ólh Téméxw, “Our Land”. The Stó:lō have not sold nor ceded their land to the Province of British Columbia or the Canadian government. The appropriation of Indigenous lands by these governments remains an injustice at the basis of our society today. We acknowledge this historical and ongoing injustice as a starting point for building more equitable relationships with our Stó:lō neighbors. The Yarrow Ecovillage lies most directly in the homelands of the Ts’elxwéyeqw (Chilliwack) and the Se:máth (Sumas) tribes, who are part of the broader Stó:lō Nation. As a community that holds strong environmental and social justice values, we share a responsibility to help care for and respect these lands, and respect and support Stó:lō efforts towards self-determination.
Resources:
Stó:lō Nation: stolonation.bc.ca
Ts’elxweyeqw Tribe: ttml.ca
Stó:lō Tribal Council: stolotribalcouncil.ca
Sumas First Nation: sumasfirstnation.com