Before European contact, Burton was known as xaieken, a large village of Sinixt first nations people. There are claims by several native bands about the area and there has been little archeological research done to confirm the who, where, when, why or for what duration any of them were in the area and if they were here full-time or transient residents. There have been many artifacts collected in the area (arrowheads, scrapers etc.) but little information on who made them.