The name “Coqualeetza” was an anglicized form of the Halkomelem word Kw’eqwalith’a. In its original, it means: “clubbing”. During the subsistence era, the Stó:Lō washed clothing by clubbing it in the streams with a wooden mallet. This site was also known as “the cleansing place”, where Stó:Lō people would gather together to share their lives with one another. Through the process of cultural assimilation, the name was used by Methodist Missionaries upon the opening of the Coqualeetza Home, and later Coqualeetza Residential School. Unfortunately, the meaning of the name was transformed from its original to achieve the educational and assimilationist purposes of the church and government. Instead of “the cleansing place” or “the place of meeting”, it was molded to mean something new for educators.
The above excerpt is taken from Charles M. Tate’s diary