The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people, culture, and language are still here, alive, and vibrant. They are not a thing of the past. Previous exhibitions displaying the remains of their ancestors and their belongings as museum artifacts distorted this view, portraying the xʷməθkʷy̓əm as a long-gone culture consigned to history.
Eurocentric views of museum curatorship were harmful and disrespectful to xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people and their culture. While those who procured and stored belongings and ancestors from c̓əsnaʔəm may have acted with the best of intentions at the time, the outcome was to disenfranchise xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people, and to depict their culture as something that had vanished or belonged to the ancient past. In recognising this, and many other paternalistic or culturally insensitive actions, we may understand better why many Indigenous people do not instinctively trust initiatives lead by the Canadian government; in the past these have not resulted from meaningful and authentic consultation, or genuinely prioritised the needs of First Nations communities.