Beacon Hill was not always a park. It was
once part of the land used and occupied by the Lekwungen peoples, today
represented by the Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations. When first observed by
Europeans in the mid-19th century, there were no Indigenous villages in the
present park area. However, the evidence of pre-contact activities and oral
tradition tell a different story.
Evidence of the early use of the Park area
by Indigenous peoples consists of the remains of village refuse at defensive
localities along the waterfront and burial grounds nearby.
