Benjamin John Canute | Shwuyhalutsup (or Swayxalutsup)
B.July 01, 1913 – D.September 13, 2000
Swayxalutsup | Ben Canute was a respected Elder and Knowledge Keeper from the Qw’umiyiqun (Comiaken) community of Quw’utsun Tribes. He was a fluent speaker of Hul’q’umi’num’ and he generously shared his knowledge of the language, history, culture, placenames, and traditions of his people with linguists and scholars.
Ben Canute was born in 1913 to parents Tl’athustun | Lemo (1866-1961) and Kolsetsten | Josephine Canute (née Nelson) (1870-1974).1 His great-grandfather was John Baptiste, a Chief at Qw’umiyiqun (Comiaken).2 From a young age, Ben Canute’s grandmother taught him language and cultural teachings including protocol. He grew up hearing his Elders telling stories and was given important teachings by them. He also learned how to hunt and fish from his father. Around the age of 15 he began work supporting new Big House dancers, gathering sacred rocks from specific sites and collecting material for sacred dancers’ staves. As an adult, Canute held the important role of gravedigger for his community.
On May 26, 1940, Ben Canute was married to Elsie Tommy | Qw’usteniye’. At the time, Ben was 26 years old and had been working as a farmer like his father. Later he would also spend time working in the logging industry. When they were first married, the couple stayed with Ben’s parents, Lemo and Josephine Canute. Elsie and Ben had several children together, including Edward (1941-2005), Margarite (Margie), Rose Mary, Irving, Vincent (1944-1976) , and twins Michael (1952-1998) and Marie (1952-1981). Ben died on September 13, 2000 at the age of 87.
Both Ben and Elsie were fluent speakers of Hul’q’umi’num’. Ben also spoke English fluently. During his lifetime he generously shared his knowledge of the Hul’q’umi’num’ language, culture, traditions, and place-names with linguists, anthropologists and other researchers including Thomas Hukari (UVIC). Along with several other Quw’utsun Elders, Ben Canute participated in a Quw’utsun Tribes Elders’ Oral History project where their stories were recorded and housed for posterity in the Quw’utsun Tribes archives. Several of Ben’s stories were later included in the Quw’utsun Tribes publication, Those Who Fell From the Sky: A History of the Cowichan Peoples, written by Daniel P. Marshall.
We are thankful for the important work Swayxalutsup | Ben Canute carried out during his lifetime and are grateful for the knowledge repository his sharing created. Ben Canute valued our ancestral teachings and wanted them to survive into the future. His sharing has helped keep our language, culture, and traditions alive for generations to come.
Stories by Ben Canute
- His father’s name was also spelled t-l’alhuts-tun. ↩︎
- Photo from https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=5383668&lang=eng&ecopy=e011307920-v8 ↩︎