Last week, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse descended on the city after Squamish First Nation chief Ian Campbell suggested during a ceremony for the opening of a native village display in Stanley Park that the city's crown jewel be renamed Xwayxway.

Xwayxway was the name of a First Nations settlement in Stanley Park where Lumbermen's Arch is located. Campbell's comment created a snowball effect. Following his statement, COPE Coun. Ellen Woodsworth agreed it was a wonderful idea. And when Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger also weighed in on what a great idea it was, all hell broke loose.

The 404-hectare park was named after Britain's Lord Stanley of Preston in 1888, but First Nations people settled on the land at least 1,000 years before. As one First Nations elder told the media, her great-grandfather is buried where the nine o'clock gun now sits.

Like many people, I was initially taken aback by the idea, which the federal government has since quashed, but then I thought back to growing up in Chilliwack with kids from the Tzeachten, Skwah, Soowahlie and Cheam First Nations before those bands joined together with four others from the Fraser Valley to form Sto:lo Nation, The People of the River. My first job as a reporter was also in Chilliwack and my beats included covering the Sto:lo council and First Nations fisheries.

I was honoured to be a witness at the first salmon celebration each spring at the Sto:lo band's long house and carried the contacts I made there to future jobs in Richmond and now Vancouver. I remember spending a day with a First Nations elder and her grandson as we toured what are called "transformer" sites, sacred locations along the Fraser River that aboriginal people believe were transformed by the god Xexá:ls, who changed bad people into objects such as rock formations. Siwash Rock in Stanley Park is an example of a transformer site. At each of the sacred locations we visited, the elder sang a song in Halq'eméylem while her grandson drummed. It was an unforgettable day.

One of my favourite vacation destinations is Hawaii, where no matter which island you visit you're surrounded by that state's First Nations culture. Every time I return home, I wonder why our aboriginal people are almost invisible once you leave the Vancouver airport, which features several large First Nations displays. Of course, we have the Museum of Anthropology at the University of B.C., but where are our First Nations visitor centres?

I sometimes wonder if, unlike Hawaii, we're too politically correct to simply enjoy our First Nations history. The new village display in Stanley Park is a good first step, but some people are already complaining it's not 100 per cent historically accurate to this region. But so what? I don't think fire dancers performed at every ancient Hawaiian settlement, but it's those dancers who draw in the crowds who then learn about Hawaii's culture along the way.

When I first heard the proposed name was Xwayxway, I struggled with the pronunciation so I wasn't a fan. I also initially wondered how visitors from overseas would take to a name they likely couldn't pronounce, but then it occurred to me I struggle to pronounce the names of many of my favourite places in Hawaii, such as Haleakala and Kealakekua Bay. And like many other tourists to Hawaii, I own a T-shirt with the state fish on it, the humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

I suggest the city's crown jewel be called Stanley Park at Xwayxway or Xwayxway at Stanley Park, or that the original settlement area at Lumbermen's Arch be renamed. It's true that Europeans haven't been around as long as aboriginals in this area, but Stanley Park is also sacred ground to many of them, as well as to thousands of newer immigrants. A complete name change could create an irreparable divide among people across the province, so I believe it's important that no bridges be burned during any future discussion and reconciliation.

sthomas@vancourier.com