Photograph of a group of nine First Nations Peoples Chiefs at New Westminster, British Columbia. The group, two of whom are standing, are assembled in front of a tree trunk. In the far distance, centre left, stands a two storey building. Some of the subjects have their hands clasped together and wear tassled jackets and fur hats. The chief on the far right holds a clay tobacco pipe.
The Qayqayt First Nation or the New Westminster Indian Band were the first settlers of the area now known as New Westminster in British Columbia. Richard Moody, was responsible for founding an English city on the southern coast of British Columbia and chose the present site in 1858. The following year in 1859, the city was named Queensborough but, following disapproval from the British authorities in London, the city was re-named New Westminster as suggested by Queen Victoria.
