A new name for a new bridge

A major bridge replacement project across the Fraser River (Sto:lo) between New Westminster and Surrey is coming to an end, and the new name of the bridge has been released. My blog still annoyingly doesn’t have access to the character set needed to spell the name properly but stal’ewasem Bridge it is!

The new name was a gift from the Musqueam and Kwantlen Nations to the people of the Lower Mainland. It’s worth watching the video on the bridge name page to witness the generosity in the gifting of the name and to learn how to pronounce it, which is as easy as learning how to say Tsawwassen, to which it sounds similar.

It is so important to see this naming as the gift that it is, an offering from local Nations to all who live here to celebrate the place and root our collective identity in the land and water of the region and to join together in celebration the place where this new bridge connects.