Tributes are pouring in from across B.C. for Musqueam elder and knowledge keeper Shane Pointe (Te’ta-in), who community members describe as a generous teacher whose influence reached far beyond his people.

Pointe died on April 8 at the age of 71, the Musqueam Indian Band confirmed. No official cause of death has been released.

A funeral was held Sunday at the Musqueam Community Centre in Vancouver, where friends, family and community members gathered to honour Pointe’s life and legacy.

A ceremonial speaker and cultural educator, Pointe spent decades supporting people in his community, working with youth and residential school survivors and sharing cultural teachings in schools and recovery programs.

In 2015, he was appointed the Vancouver School Board’s first knowledge keeper and elder in residence, a role aimed at strengthening understanding of Coast Salish culture among students and staff.

At Sunday’s service, Pointe’s cousin, former B.C. lieutenant-governor Steven Pointe, said the late Musqueam elder loved connecting with people, especially younger generations.

“From time to time I would see young people trying to talk like Shane,” he said. “[He was] kind of like William Shatner of the Indians.”

“He would use his hands to express his words so that you would remember them, I never forgot and got tired of listening to him.”

Family members also spoke about the way Pointe shared knowledge, including his niece, Tammy Harkey, who said teaching was at the centre of who he was.

“What he gave away most freely was his knowledge,” she said. “He never made anyone feel small for not knowing. He believed learning was something that we do together.”

“Helping people wasn’t something he made time for,” she said. “It was what gave him life.”

Those who knew him say his teachings were grounded in a principle he often shared: Nuts amaht, which means “we are one.”

“He said Nuts amaht is a Coast Salish truth that we are one with all other living beings and their spirits, our ancestors, sacred beings, such as Thunderbird, and the lands, waters, and skies of Mother Earth,” the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) said in a statement.

“Elder Shane’s guidance continues to shape how FNHA understands self‑care, wellness, and our collective responsibility to one another.”

B.C. Housing also paid tribute to Pointe, saying he helped bring cultural understanding and ceremony into its work, ensuring housing initiatives were rooted in respect, dignity and community.

“His teachings will continue to echo the core values that guide [our] work, centering people, relationships, and cultural humility in every decision we make,” the agency said in a statement.