The Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, also known as the Burrard Indian Band or Burrard Band, is a First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 government in the Canadian Province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. The Tsleil-Waututh are Coast Salish people who speak the Downriver dialect of the Halkomelem language, and are closely related to but politically separate from the nearby Nation of the Sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Musqueam First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

.

The Tsleil-wau-tuth First Nation is a member government of the Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council

Naut'sa Mawt Tribal Council

Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council is a First Nation Tribal Council located in British Columbia, Canada, with offices in Tsawwassen and Nanaimo. NmTC advises and assists its 11 member Nations in the areas of Community Planning, Economic Development, Financial Management, Governance and Technical Services...

, which includes other governments on the upper Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast, British Columbia

The Sunshine Coast is a region of the southern mainland coast of British Columbia, on the eastern shore of the Strait of Georgia, and just northwest of Greater Vancouver...

, southeastern Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

 and the Tsawwassen band

Tsawwassen First Nation

The Tsawwassen First Nation is a First Nations government whose only Indian reserve is located in the Greater Vancouver area of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, adjacent to the South Arm of the Fraser River and the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal and just north of the international...

 on the other side of the Vancouver metropolis from the Tsleil-wau-tuth.

Notable members

The most famous member of the Tsleil-Waututh was Chief Dan George, an actor and native rights advocate best known for his role as Old Lodge Skins in Little Big Man

Little Big Man

Little Big Man is a 1970 American Western film directed by Arthur Penn and based on the 1964 comic novel by Thomas Berger. It is a picaresque comedy about a Caucasian boy raised by the Cheyenne nation during the 19th century...

and for another role as Old Antoine in the CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 television series Cariboo Cowboy (based on books by Paul St. Pierre). His descendants still figure prominently in band government and culture. The band is also known for its war canoe racing team, Takaya (wolves). The band operates a war-canoe tour/experience known as Takaya Tours.

Their current chief is Chief Dan George's Grandson, Chief Justin Sky George.

Documentary

In 2006, a documentary was produced by CBC Newsworld that followed and was filmed by 4 Tsleil-Waututh youth to highlight their struggles with the education system. The documentary —titled as "Reds, Whites & the Blues" and/or, "Reading, Writing & The Rez"--is a CBC Newsworld

CBC Newsworld

CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...

 in-house production co-produced with CBUT

CBUT

CBUT-DT is the CBC's television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and the flagship CBC Television station for the Pacific Time Zone. The station transmits its main terrestrial signal from a tower atop Mount Seymour....

. The documentary can be viewed on CBC's Aboriginal Programming website at http://www.cbc.ca/aboriginal/programming.htm.