The great cedar canoes took the Snuneymuxw people up and down the coast of Vancouver Island and across the Strait of Georgia to the Fraser River. Connections with other nations were very important to the economy and social life of the Snuneymuxw. Canoes full of people from far away places were often greeted with a meal when they came to the Snuneymuxw territory.

Marriage was another way that contacts were made and economic partnerships were formed. Intermarriage between groups not only increased friendly relations, which reduced conflict, it widened the group of guests who would be invited to potlatches (and who would return the invitation). Marriage ties increased the rights to property for the Snuneymuxw and allowed Snuneymuxw access to fishing and harvesting sites along the Vancouver Island coast and the lower Fraser River. The Snuneymuxw bride of a northern man could pass on fishing or hunting rights to her children in an ever-broadening region of rich resources. Marriages might even be arranged solely for this purpose of access to prime hunting, fishing and harvesting areas. The Snuneymuxw still claim fishing sites on the Fraser River, and in Sechelt, Porlier Pass, Cape Mudge and other regions that came to them through marriage relationships. It was advantageous for other Nations to have a base in the Nanaimo region, due to employment available in the coal, lumber and canneries industries of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Although many masks were made in Snuneymuxw territory, the mask featured here was not. It represents the relationship between the Snuneymuxw and their neighbours to the north, on what is now known as Quadra Island. The light wood is covered in details created with pigments mixed into red, black and blue paint. Just as dyes were prepared for wool and baskets, roots, nuts, leaves and minerals such as ochre were gathered to mix into paint used by carvers to embellish their masks. Commercial paints, which allowed for a greater range of colours, were used by the late 1800s.