Deadman's Island — Vancouver's haunted burial ground and Squamish sacred site

Deadman's Island in Vancouver's Coal Harbour is a small, forested island with a dark and contested history. The Squamish (Skwxwú7mesh) Nation considers the island a sacred burial site, and it has been used as a cemetery by both Indigenous peoples and European settlers. The island served as a smallpox quarantine site in the 1880s, when Indigenous people were forcibly moved there during an epidemic, and many died and were buried in unmarked graves. The island was also used as a squatter's camp and a logging camp. Despite its proximity to downtown Vancouver's gleaming waterfront, Deadman's Island remains heavily wooded and largely inaccessible to the public. Those who have visited the island report a profoundly unsettling atmosphere — the feeling of being watched from the forest, the sound of mourning or chanting carried on the wind, and the sight of figures among the trees who do not appear to be other visitors. Some accounts describe seeing Indigenous people in traditional clothing who vanish when approached. The island's contested history — between Indigenous sacred use, colonial appropriation, and modern development pressure — gives its hauntings a political and cultural dimension that extends beyond simple ghost stories into questions of historical justice and reconciliation.