Acknowledgement
The Buster Frequency Project takes place on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). Unceded means what the word says: this land was stolen, never surrendered, never signed over to the Crown. The people who belong to these lands were here long before the city was built around them, and they are still here.
The book and its story are told within the regions of the city’s famous and historical east side.
Chinatown, built by Chinese Canadians who endured the Head Tax, the Exclusion Act, and decades of discrimination, created a community that gives Vancouver so much of its moodiness and culture.
Paueru Gai, Vancouver’s historic Japantown and the heart of Japanese Canadian life in the city, where families built businesses, community institutions, and the legendary Vancouver Asahi baseball club, until 1942, when residents were forcibly uprooted, their property seized and sold, and entire communities scattered across the country.
The Downtown Eastside, where I lived and worked during some of the years described in this project. The neighbourhood is often portrayed by politicians, developers, and the media as a permanent emergency, but anyone who has spent time there knows that description is incomplete. The DTES has its challenges, but it is also a place of friendship, ingenuity, activism, art, and community, and it continues to teach the rest of the city and country lessons that many of us are still struggling to learn.
A novel this concerned with stolen things owes its locations more than a footnote. These streets carry a long record of dispossession and theft. The story borrows some of that thematically, and I have tried to be honest about that.
Simply put: The Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh hold title and authority here that no acknowledgement grants and none can revoke, and while that is true, we’re wise to recognize the people and communities whose resilience helps define this area and shape its character.
— Sean Cranbury
The Buster Frequency Project takes place on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). These nations have lived on and cared for these lands and waters since before time was even time and continue to shape the cultural, political, and social life of the region today.
The nations, in their own words:
Culture, art, and history:
Contemporary Indigenous arts, culture, and community:
Chinatown is one of the oldest and most significant Chinese Canadian communities in the country. Built by migrants who endured the Head Tax, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and decades of discrimination, it remains a centre of cultural memory, community life, and ongoing renewal.
Learn more:
Before 1942, Powell Street was the heart of Japanese Canadian Vancouver. The forced uprooting, internment, and dispossession of Japanese Canadians transformed the neighbourhood, but its history continues to be remembered and celebrated by community organizations and cultural institutions.
Learn more:
The Downtown Eastside is one of Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhoods and home to generations of residents, artists, workers, activists, elders, families, and survivors. While often portrayed through the lens of poverty, addiction, and crisis, it is also a place of deep community knowledge, mutual aid, creativity, political organizing, and enduring cultural life. The neighbourhood continues to be shaped by the people who live there, care for one another there, and fight for its future.
Learn more: