The Sts’ailes and Sq’éwlets people of the Harrison River are near neighbours to the original hot springs at Harrison [see Lydia Kineswich’s article page 24] and have a long connection to these waters. The Halq’eméylem name for the location of the town of Harrison Hot Springs is Qwólts, meaning “boiling water” or “medicine water.”1
After the natural hot spring pool adjacent to the Harrison Hot Springs Resort was mysteriously filled with boulders in October 2024, Sts’ailes Grand Chief William Charlie shared that “stories passed down from elders tell how First Nations from afar would paddle their canoes to bathe in the hot springs on the territory of the Sts’ailes First Nation. They believed the water contained medicine.”2
The infill of the pools is being investigated by BC’s Ministry of Water,…
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British Columbia History (Digital) - 1 Issue, 58.1 Spring 2025