East Chilliwack describes the community east of Chilliwack, Roadale and Sardis, but before Popcum.
The name Chilliwack is an Anglicized version of a Halq’eméylem word Ts’elxwéyeqw meaning “going back upstream; backwater; as far as you can go with a canoe” (Carlson, 2001) and/or “as far as you can go with a paddle before having to switch to a pole” (Denman, 2008).
Chilliwack also refers to a group of First Nations Peoples, the Ts’elxwéyeqw, as well as the river in the area by the same name (Chilliwack River).
Alternate spellings:
Chilliwhack (Township of); Ts’elxwéyeqw; Chillwayhook, Chil-whey-uk, Chilwayook, Silawack.
References:
- Carlson, K. (2001). A Stó:lō Coast Salish Historical Atlas. Chilliwack, B.C.: Stó:lō Nation.
- Denman, R. (2007). The Chilliwack Story. Chilliwack, B.C.: Chilliwack Museum and Historical Society
Photograph caption: Picture postcard view of the East Chilliwack Presbyterian Church as it appeared at 502 Chilliwack Central Road, at the corner of Big Ditch (later Upper Prairie Road) and Chilliwack Central Road, ca. 1910 [Chilliwack Museum and Archives photograph, P3805].