The city of Vancouver, UBC INSTRCC, and the Chinese Canadian Museum are located on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. The term “unceded land” refers to land that has not been legally ceded, meaning that it has not been handed over to the Crown through a treaty or any other agreement. Traditional territories refer to land that Indigenous peoples reside on and have held stewardship of ever since time immemorial—for as long as can be remembered.

The place we now call British Columbia began and remains a colonial imposition on the unceded territories of the Indigenous people who have lived here for tens of thousands of years. All of us who are not Indigenous to these lands live in British Columbia as uninvited guests, using lands and resources seized from Indigenous peoples. This ongoing colonial dispossession has spawned virulent forms of anti-Indigenous racism, blaming those who have been robbed for the devastating legacies of their loss.