Local History

Here you’ll find resources on the Squamish Nation and settler history of Nex̱wlélex̱wm / Bowen Island.

Websites & Organizations

• Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation)
• Nex̱wlélex̱wm – See this page on our site for information about the Squamish name for this island, Nex̱wlélex̱wm, and the name sign created, installed, and blessed in 2020.
• A Short History of Bowen Island – from the Bowen Heritage website. This article covers Bowen Island history from the initial Squamish Nation origins, through European arrival, early settlement, and the steamship era, through to today.
• Bowen Heritage
• Bowen Island Museum

Books

See our full booklist “Books on Nex̱wlélex̱wm / Bowen Island” in our catalogue for many more titles on historic and current Bowen Island.

• Bowen Island, 1872-1972 by Irene Howard
• Bowen Island: Reflections by Edith Anstey Hanen & Bowen Island Historians
• Whale in the Door: a Community Unites to Protect BC’s Howe Sound
  by Pauline Le Bel
• Echoes of the Whistle: An Illustrated History of the Union Steamship Company
  by Gerald A. Rushton
• Bowen Island Passenger Ferries: the Sannie Transportation Company 1921-1956 by Peter D. Ommundsen