"Katzie" is an anglicization of the Hunquminum name q̓ic̓əy̓, which means "land of the moss". The Katzie people's oral tradition credits the name to Swaneset.[4]
It is said that Swaneset, at the behest of the Creator, shaped the land of his area so that it would be abundant in berry and root crops and thus suitable for human life. He then travelled to the sky and returned to Earth with a sky wife who instructed the people of the area to pile up moss to form the foundation for a village site. She later released eulachon into the Fraser River (Stó꞉lō) and taught the people how to catch and prepare the fish for consumption. Within Swaneset's lifetime, the Katzie community had grown to 12 separate villages. Swaneset is said to have secured an abundance of sockeye salmon for the Katzie people through his second marriage to the daughter of the chief of the "sockeye people".[2]
The Katzie Nation are negotiating their land treaty independently, and are not part of either Sto:lo tribal councils (the Sto:lo Nation and the Stó:lō Tribal Council).
As the new Golden Ears Bridge was in Katzie territory, the nation signed a Benefit Agreement with TransLink in September 2004 to establish the responsibilities of both parties.
Traditional Katzie territory includes the entire Pitt watershed, including the Alouette watershed, the Fraser River, lands adjacent to Point Roberts, and lands between the Fraser and Boundary Bay. There are approximately 592 members of the Katzie First Nation (their Indian Act-mandated government), and 302 are currently living on their five reserves.
The Katzie Nation manages the affairs of residents of five reserves assigned to the Katzie, focused on the area of Pitt Meadows, where the band headquarters are located. Other reserves are on Barnston Island and at Yorkson Creek in Langley, British Columbia. These reserves are:[5][6]
həṅq̓əmín̓əḿ, the downriver dialect of Halkomelem, is still spoken by Katzie peoples despite colonization attempts (including the Canadian Residential School System). Halkomelem is one of the Coast Salish, or Salishan languages.
