AN ETHNOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE HOMELESS POPULATION

OF VANCOUVER’S DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

Submitted by: Kelly Schulz

Box Number: #132

Professor Joost Pikkert

Applied Cultural Anthropology

A paper presented in partial fulfillment

Of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts
Vanguard College
November 17, 2009
 Beauty. Love. Family. True community. These
are words that most people would never use to describe
the downtown eastside of the coastal city of Vancouver.
Most of the visitors that travel through this area would
describe it as a dark, crime-infested eyesore that should
be eliminated from the city. These words, in deed, refer
to the area located around the intersection of Hastings
and Main in Vancouver, British Columbia. The DTES
(downtown eastside) is the poorest postal zone in all of
North America. This area is commonly noted for its high The Downtown Eastside – Vancouver
Figure 1 - Photo by Mel Manu ©2007
levels of poverty, homelessness, drug use, sex trade, and
violent crime. I first became interested in this area when I went to the DTES for 10 days in
October 2007 on a short-term mission trip. On that trip I was involved in volunteer work
for many different organizations geared to providing assistance for the people of the DTES.
I also spent a lot of time simply walking the streets and talking to people about what life
was like and how they managed to survive the cold brutality of those streets. I had the
chance to return to the DTES in October 2009 for an additional 10 days. I was able to
spend a few days in the DTES and live as much as an insider that was possible for those few
days. I embarked on my journey to Vancouver’s DTES from Edmonton, Alberta with only
nine dollars in my pocket and the dirty, baggy clothes on my back. I, along with several
others, wanted to see what life in the DTES was like from the inside. So from the moment
we hopped on to the 16-hour bus ride, we attempted to do as much as we could to fit in to
the lifestyle that awaited us in downtown Vancouver.
The purpose of this paper is to take my experiences in Vancouver and formulate

them into an ethnographic analysis of the homeless population in the DTES. This report is

divided into five sections based on the roles of the primary institutions and cultural systems

that are the most prominent in the DTES: the role of drugs, the role poverty, the role of the

police, the role of the aid-based organization, and the role of the community.

The first of these aspects is the role of drugs in life in the DTES. A person only

needs to spend mere minutes standing on the corner of East Hastings Street and Main

Street and can begin to name the exact prices of the various drugs being sold. Substance

abuse is a problem that runs rampant within the DTES. However, the insider sees drugs

and alcohol as the necessary evils that people need in order to survive. The most common

reason that people told me on why they got involved in drugs was because they needed to

cope with events that had occurred in their lives. The primary role of drugs in the DTES is

that of a type of medicine that helps people cope with physical and emotional pain caused

by traumatic experiences. The reported statistics state that one hundred percent of people

that live in the DTES have suffered from some form of physical, sexual, and/or emotional

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abuse as a child. The statisticians have yet to find a single person that has not suffered

from these kinds of abuses. Adding to this staggering number is the hospital records that

diagnose one out of every two people living in the DTES as having some form of hindering

mental illness. It was these statistics that led me to the discovery of the role of drugs in the

DTES. I had the opportunity to sit down with a man named Jim and talk about the role of

drugs in the life of a person on East Hastings. Jim was addicted to heroine. However, he is

part of a rare group of people known as “functioning addicts” because he was able to

function within the social expectations of the general population even while he is high.

When I was talking to him, he was on his tenth hit of heroine that day; one of fourteen hits

that he takes each and every day. He told me that people in the DTES use drugs because

their bodies cannot physically function without the drugs or because their minds cannot

mentally function without the drugs. He said to me, as he lifted his sleeve to show me the

countless number of needle marks that went up and down his arm, “why do people look

down on the use of drugs when it is the same thing as the medicine that they take

everyday?” This is not an observation that most outsiders would make when they look at

the extensive drug trade that exists in that place. In the minds of my friend Jim and many

of the people that live in the area of East Hastings, drugs are simply the medicines that they

take in order to combat the “sicknesses” in their lives. Another interesting comment that

came my way was this one, “I know that ‘rock’ will kill me one day, but if I didn’t use it, I

would’ve jumped in front of a bus a long time ago.” The person who told me this was a

woman no more than thirty years old. She described her addiction to crack cocaine as the

substance that got her through the day and yet she also knew that this substance would

one day take her life. This paradox is commonly frequented throughout the DTES. The

very drugs that are killing people are the very same drugs that are keeping them alive. The

role of drugs in the DTES is that of much more than experiencing highs, lows, and

overdoses. The role of drugs in the DTES is that of personal medication that different

people use to treat different illnesses.

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 The second aspect of life in the DTES that I was able to observe has to do with the

role of poverty in that society. Poverty is something that cannot be ignored in the DTES. It

is the poorest postal zone in North America, and it is obvious why. Garbage litters the

streets. Cardboard boxes provide makeshift shelters for countless individuals. The nearly

3000 homeless men and women that live in this area can be seen attempting to survive the

elements at all hours of the day. The reality of poverty is something that cannot be ignored

in the DTES. One of the biggest monthly events, that can be considered a holiday, is what

people call “welfare Wednesday.” On the last Wednesday of every month, the government

hands out cheques to every person on welfare, social assistance, disability, etc. I have had

the opportunity of being in the DTES on “welfare

Wednesday” and it is definitely a sight to be seen. Based

on what I have seen and what people have told me, there

are generally two ways that people use the cheques that

are given to them. Many people take their cheques and

A Vancouver man stands amidst piles
of garbage in an alley of the DTES.
Figure 3 – Clean Streets ©2007 spend it within a 24-hour period. They buy everything

from drugs to fancy dining, from a night in a 5 star hotel to a box of Chinese fireworks. The

streets are filled with people all throughout the night. A person described this event to me

as, “our monthly shot at extravagance.” The second way that people generally use their

cheques is by trying to budget their cheques to last them the entire month. However, most

of these people are unemployed and it is nearly impossible for these cheques to last them

through the entire month. Therefore, poverty is the most obvious in the days leading up to

“welfare Wednesday.” This day is marked by many emotions. Some feel that this day is

only a perpetuation of the ongoing state of poverty. Others feel that this day is the only

hope that they have. While others feel that this day is the greatest party of the entire

month. Nevertheless, this day is by far the biggest day of each month, perhaps even bigger

than Christmas or Easter. The role of poverty in the DTES is something that cannot be

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ignored because even the biggest days of the year center on the ever-present reality of

poverty.

The role of police in the DTES is one of the most interesting roles that can be

examined when looking at the culture of the people who live in the DTES. Every single

person that I have talked to share a similar perspective on how they feel about the massive

Vancouver police station that is located in the heart of the DTES. These people have told

me that the only thing the police are good for is causing trouble. A person said to me, “The

‘sixes’ (code word for police) don’t understand us. They stereotype us and make decisions

that they think are best for us, but they really only cause more problems.” This interesting

observation is very foreign to the outsider. This is because, in the minds of many of the

general public, the police force is an institution that has been put

in place to put a stop to the problems in our lives. However, in

the minds of the people that live in the DTES, this is clearly not

the case. In their minds, the police force is nothing more than an

antagonistic nuisance that meddles in things that they know

Vancouver Police arrest a
homeless man on suspected
nothing about. An interesting phenomenon that takes place robbery charges. Figure 4 –
Photo by Chris Lee ©2006
within the DTES is the police’s total ignorance of the drug trade

that goes on in the area. They seem perfectly content to contain the use of illegal drugs, as

well as their trafficking, to the area known as the DTES. However, they are quick to

apprehend people for offences that seem trivial, such as jaywalking. This bizarre philosophy

of response to criminal activity is something that has an obvious impact on the psyche of

the people in the DTES who feel that they are a part of the “games” that the police and civil

government play. As can be expected, the result of these feelings is that the police are

neither respected nor trusted. The police are disrespected to the point where people will

blatantly do things in front of them in order to taunt them and see how much they can get

away with. A long-term tenant of the DTES once told me that one of his greatest forms of

entertainment was getting his friends together and harassing the obvious undercover cops

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that were meant to keep an eye on what went down in the DTES. This story was confirmed

in my own work as I was walking in the DTES with one of my peers. In the course of

twenty minutes some thirty different people harassed him, both verbally and physically,

because they thought he was an undercover cop. At one point, three large Native American

men cornered him into an alley and told him to leave before they “took him out.” We soon

realized that my friend was wearing a sweater that was exactly the same as one that an

undercover cop had that frequented the DTES. As soon as my friend removed the sweater,

he was no longer harassed by anyone. This peculiar story illustrates the immense hatred

the people of the DTES have for the police and the role that they play in their society. To

these people, the police continually get in the way of their life and make no attempt to

understand their situation. The role of the police in the DTES is that of an ever-present

antagonist that seems to never go away.

One of the most interesting institutions that exist

in the DTES is the hundreds of organizations that work

in the area in order to provide for the people’s basic

needs. Shelters, drop-in centers, food lines, clothing

banks, spiritual aids, safe-injection sites, needle

A volunteer provides assistance to a man
sleeping outside the Union Gospel Mission. exchanges, drug rehabilitation, and detox centers
Figure 5 – Photo by UGM Vancouver ©2007
make up only a portion of the massive variety of

organizations that exist within the DTES. In my experience in the DTES, I have rarely heard

a barrage of complaints directed at the work of the organizations that exist in this area.

Almost every person in the DTES is involved with more than one of these organizations on a

daily basis. One of the most appreciated of these organizations is the First United Church.

This church has been transformed into a shelter that operates 23-hours a day and a food

line that serves three full meals, 365 days of the year. Walking into the former sanctuary of

this church is definitely a sight to be seen. The pews, the stage, the balcony, the baptismal

tank, and the floor are filled with people that need a place to sleep. On average, nearly 400

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people call this place home each and every night. Most people like this place because the

rules in this place are extremely slack. This place is in sharp contrast to a place like the

Union Gospel Mission, which demands that people wanting to have a bed must be in line at

9:00 PM and up and out of bed by 6:00 AM. However, neither of these places is taken for

granted because each of them attracts a specific crowd within the DTES. These places are

different still than those of Mission Possible, which is an early morning drop-in center that

helps people find work through temporary jobs, or Tenth Avenue Alliance, which has a

weekly drop-in with called “Out of the Cold.” Places such as these provide opportunities for

the people of the DTES to step away from their daily routine and have a warm place to sit

as well as a hot meal to eat. Based on what people have said to me, it is clear that people

appreciate these organizations just as much as they appreciate the ones that provide

shelter for them on a daily basis. These organizations are completely different from the

work of InSite, which is a safe-injection site that provides people with the tools to use their

drugs in a safe and supervised manner. This controversial organization has significantly

reduced the number of those infected with HIV/AIDS from “dirty needles” and its records

show that not a single person has died while overdosed in their facility. It is obvious that

this organization has the specific goal of harm-reduction and places value in helping people

to fight their drug addiction by helping to use safely until they get into a rehab or detox

program. The role of the many organizations within the DTES is much more than what

some antagonists would call “a crutch.” The role of the organization is one of a care-

provider and support system that enables the people of the DTES to live their lives within

the ever-present reality of poverty and substance abuse. The social services that are

provided to the people of the DTES differ only in terms of their application from the social

services that are provided to people such as myself when it comes to healthcare, education,

etc. The role of the organization in the DTES is that of a social support system that

increases the standard of living for the people of the DTES. The people of the DTES are

more than grateful for this system and its existence in their lives.

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 The final institution that will be looked at is one that cannot be easily measured or

defined. The role that community takes in the lives of the people in the DTES is arguably

the most important institution that exists within this culture. When most outsiders think of

people that are homeless, impoverished and/or addicted to drugs and alcohol, they think of

people that are alone and have no one to care for them. However, a loving, vibrant

community is the only way that one can describe life of community in the DTES. There are

many cultural systems in place that testify to this community. For instance, there are many

articles of clothing lying all over the DTES. To the

outsider, it appears to be garbage that has been

thrown away, but to the insider, they are clothes

that people have left behind for those that truly

need them. If someone has an extra pair of boots, A snapshot of the many people that call the
sanctuary of the First United Church home.
they will leave them on the side of the road for the Figure 6 – Photo by CBC News ©2008

person without a pair of boots to come and pick them up. Another example of this

community is the way in which people look out for one another. For example, there is a

well-loved man in the DTES that is completely blind and yet he is able to navigate his way

from place to place throughout the DTES because people are sure to keep him safe and get

to where he is going. It does not matter if that person is intoxicated or mentally unstable, I

have seen all sorts of people come to the assistance of this one individual. Yet another

example of the tremendous displays of a loving community that exists in the DTES came

when I met a man name Tony. Tony was a man that was an extremely heavy alcoholic. He

had been living homeless in the DTES for over twenty years and had no intention of leaving.

He told me, “Yes, I drink. I drink a lot. It’s the truth. Maybe this place does not help me

stop, but I would never leave. No, I would never leave. The people here are too good. I

would miss them.” Now, when most outsiders would look at Tony, they would see only one

thing, the alcoholic. However, it is obvious that Tony valued the community of the DTES to

the extent that it took precedent over his own treatment and wellbeing. In the end, I

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actually had the opportunity to help and to see Tony apply to a rehabilitation facility right in

the DTES. However, the only reason that he did it was because he would not be leaving all

that he loved and cared for in the DTES. The reality of the role of community within

an average person’s life in the DTES is not something that can be ignored or overlooked,

rather it is as essential a part of their culture as community is to my culture. What appears

to be a conglomeration of drug addicts, alcoholics, and homeless people is actually so much

more than those broad stereotypes. It is a community of men and women that actually look

out for each other and their way of life. I would argue that the role of community in the

DTES is valued and cherished so much more than the role of community in my

neighborhood where people find it a struggle to get beyond the “friendly wave.”

A person cannot live or interact within Vancouver’s DTES without encountering all

five of the primary structures and institutions that exist within the culture of the people that

call this place home. Drugs, poverty, police, organizations, and community are ever-

present realities in which each has a well carved-out role within the culture of the DTES.

Each of these components to life in the DTES is vital to its existence and I am certain that

the culture of the DTES exists only because each of these components exists. The reality of

life in Vancouver’s downtown east side is one that most people will never be able to

understand. However, it does not take long to learn how this place functions, where these

people get their values from, and what hope they actually take from the life that they live.