Indigenous Peoples

The Indigenous Peoples of this land continue to show strength and resiliency in the face of adversity. With deep sorrow, we acknowledge the pain and harm caused by assimilation practices, including the Residential School system.

Under the leadership of Archbishop Richard Smith, the Catholic Church in Vancouver is committed to the ongoing work of reconciliation, healing, and renewed relationships with Indigenous communities across our region.

Since 2021, the Archdiocese has distributed over $2.5 million in grants for projects that advance healing, education, and cultural renewal. Beyond funding, the Archdiocese continues to build friendships with local First Nations through dialogue, collaboration, and community engagement.

Our ministry focuses on education, outreach, and relationship-building. We help parishes and schools deepen their understanding of reconciliation and Indigenous culture, support First Nations communities in their pastoral needs, and form our clergy to serve with cultural awareness.

Survivors and their families can access 24-hour toll-free support from the Indian Residential School Survivors Society at 1 (866) 925-4419 and from the KUU-US Crisis Line Society at 1-800-588-8717.

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Reconciliation Fund

The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) is a registered charity established in 2022 and funded by 73 Catholic entities across Canada, including the Archdiocese of Vancouver. The fund was created to advance local healing and reconciliation initiatives as part of the $30 million national commitment made by the Catholic Bishops of Canada.

The Archdiocese of Vancouver fulfilled its $2.5 million commitment through grants supporting projects for healing, education, and cultural revitalization. These projects were identified and developed locally, in collaboration with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit partners.

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Grant Recipients

St Mary’s – The Legacy of an Indian Residential School Book Republishing

Re-publishing of the book Amongst God's Own under the new title St. Mary’s: The Legacy of an Indian Residential School. The book will be made available to educational institutions and First Nations across Canada, as well as contacts within the Archdiocese of Vancouver and the Sisters of St. Ann in Victoria. The project will edit the existing book, adding additional photographs recently released by the Oblates to Mission Community Archives, a new copyright page, a new cover page design, and new acknowledgments.

Read more in The B.C. Catholic

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St. Paul’s Language Classes

St. Paul's Squamish Nation Church in North Vancouver will provide Squamish language classes. The project was inspired by parishioners who expressed their desire to walk with Indigenous brothers and sisters in greater solidarity and understanding.

St’at’imc Declaration Gathering

For the past 30 years, each band (there are 11) takes turns to host this gathering. On May 9-12, 2024, it will be the N'Quatqua's turn to host. The 3-4 day event will include cultural activities, speeches, food, traditional singing and dancing, entertainment, and more. The event leads up to the annual celebration and takes about 2 weeks. Before the event, there will be a "Unity Ride" through horses, language, and culture.

The Cost of Silence Film

The Cost of Silence #UsToo is a call to action for all survivors to share their stories of sexual abuse using the hashtag #UsToo. This project will fund the distribution of The Cost of Silence - #UsToo Healer’s Edition & Preventative Justice Edition to 25 indigenous communities within the Archdiocese of Vancouver, 10 to Anishinaabe communities, and Gitxsan communities. The film shows living examples of a few of the solutions: sexual abuse in children should be treated as soon as possible to mitigate the damage it wreaks on a victim's life; perpetrators can be taught to control their urges and can be prevented from perpetrating by offering them services to address their addiction.

Read more in The B.C. Catholic

Cultural Programming at Dr. Peter Centre

The Dr. Peter Centre ensures that people with HIV, complex health and social needs are supported as experts in their health and well-being. Close to a third of the people who access the Dr. Peter Centre identify as Indigenous. The grant will ensure cultural programming that can begin to meaningfully address the needs of Indigenous peoples who come to the Dr. Peter Centre. This fulltime Indigenous programming currently entails an onsite coordinator, Cultural Advisor, Elders, and several part-time cultural workers who provide art therapy, smudging, talking circles, medicine gathering, Indigenous meals, out trips to participate in ceremony, as well as decolonization and cultural safety training for staff and Board members of the Dr. Peter Centre. The goal is to ensure that there are Indigenous team members available 7 days a week.

Read more in The B.C. Catholic

Healing Watchman Pole and Garden

This project aims to commission a Coast Salish Pole that watches over the surrounding area and contributes to the wellness and health of the Sts’ailes people in the area. The project will also create a public garden area on the property of the former Chehalis Indian Day School.

Syiyaya Healing Regalia

The Syiyaya Reconciliation Movement is a joint initiative addressing intergenerational trauma experienced by survivors and families of St. Augustine's Residential School in Sechelt. The project aims to restore cultural practices, identities, and dignity by teaching regalia weaving and facilitating private healing at the former school site. A healing ceremony, feast, and the unveiling of a Totem Pole will honour survivors and strengthen the commitment to reconciliation.

St. Mary’s Residential School Historical Research

This project funds Stó:lō Nation's research on St. Mary's Residential School in Mission, focusing on missing children and unmarked graves. It seeks historical documents from the Catholic Church in Vancouver to identify burials of Indigenous peoples at the OMI Cemetery and other Fraser Valley Catholic cemeteries. The Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre and archivist Carey Pallister will create a comprehensive cemetery map and database. Consultants will support the project, upholding Indigenous data sovereignty. This project will contribute to ongoing investigations, healing, education, and Indigenous data sovereignty. It promotes data empowerment and decolonization.

Sto:lo Commemorative Gathering

The Sto:lo Commemorative Gathering was initiated by Sto:lo leadership, longhouse families, and residential school survivors. It aims to provide a proper memorial service for the former students of St. Mary's Residential School, fostering healing and unity among Indigenous groups across British Columbia through traditional spiritual and cultural protocols. This gathering signifies an important step towards remembrance, reconciliation, and cultural preservation.

St'at'imc Northern Tribe Powwow Society - The Arbour Roof

The Powwow Society was created to bring powwow ceremonies and events back to the traditional territory of the St’at’imc peoples. This project, the Arbour roof, is the final stage of construction for the permanent structures on the powwow grounds, a 3000 person, multi-use event space. The Society aims to provide a comfortable space for traditional ceremonies, knowledge sharing, and community events, such as powwows, where all people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, can gather, learn, and celebrate together.

Healing on the Water

Offered by All Nations Outreach, Healing on the Water provides trauma-informed, healing experiences for vulnerable Indigenous populations from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The program serves participants twice a month, helping them reconnect with nature and their cultural heritage as a path to healing and recovery.

EmpowerRoots: Indigenous Intrinsic Worth Educational Initiative

This project will develop kindergarten through grade 12 educational resources that emphasize Indigenous culture and empower students from those communities to know their intrinsic worth.

PNW Metis Knowledge Partnership

This project will facilitate research by Metis community-based researchers into the Catholic Church’s archives in BC, focusing on recovering lost Metis history and lived experiences. Findings will be translated, documented, and shared through a variety of mediums.

Coqualeetza Cultural Center

A gathering was hosted to heal, celebrate presence, and assist in learning about family connection and histories. Participants partook of cultural foods and activities, engaging children, youth, elders, and families.

Sacred Covenant Signing in Kamloops

On Easter Sunday 2024, Chief Rosanne Casimir from the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc Nation, Bishop Joseph Phuong Nguyen from Kamloops, and Archbishop Miller from Vancouver signed a "Sacred Covenant,” the first of its kind in Canada. This formalized working relationship between the Church and Indigenous leaders expresses truth and is a historic step towards reconciliation.

Beyond Reconciliation $100M Campaign/NIB Trust Fund: Future Generations Foundation

The Future Generations Foundation manages funds to support educational programs that address the long-lasting impacts of the Indian Residential Schools System, focusing on initiatives that facilitate healing across generations, strengthen connections to elders and cultural knowledge, boost mental health through cultural reconnection, and improve outcomes in education, employment, income, and standard of living.

Sierra Club

By incorporating Indigenous practices and knowledge, through an Indigenous Advisory Committee, the Sierra Club aims to build Indigenous relations, advocate for Indigenous land rights, and offer spaces for collecting medicines, hunting and fishing, and on-the-land healing.

IndigenEYEZ

Offers training that combines Indigenous principles with modern change-making tools, empowering participants with confidence, cultural identity, and skills for positive community transformation, contributing to success in education, employment, and leadership.

Uut Uustukyuu Traditional Practitioners

This society provides trauma-informed, culturally grounded support, blending traditional and Western practices, ensuring each patient has access to wholistic health care. Services are offered to patients across BC, even those in remote communities.

Your Spirit Remembers

Your Spirit Remembers is a healing journey series focused on addiction support. The program offers healing circles with EMDR, somatic therapy, land based therapeutics, spiritual healing, coping skills, and intergenerational trauma. Participants journey together through trauma recovery, which heals and rebuilds the community.

Restoration of What Was Lost

This project focuses on preserving and supporting the use of the Halq’emeylem language among the Sts’ailes Band. Translation work and teaching resources are being developed and shared with the community.

Indigenous Learning and Reconciliation Group Learning

With over 50% of the Talitha Koum Society’s clientele being Indigenous women, the organization has dedicated to providing culturally sensitive support by integrating an Indigenous learning and reconciliation group as a regular aspect of their program. This dedicated space will build deeper understanding among all those in the program and enable Indigenous clients to delve into their cultural identity, fostering healing and stronger relationships.

Blended Immersion Language Program

This program aims to revitalize the Ucwalmícwts language within the Samahquamicw community. The blended immersion model encompasses various activities designed to immerse participants in the learning and teaching of the language and culture of the Sťaťimc Nation.

Mashkwa Healing Grounds

By providing access to Indigenous ways of knowing and being, including: sacred ceremonies, traditional healing, land-based teachings, and food sovereignty, the Métis Community Services Society of BC is addressing the traditional healing needs of the urban Indigenous/Métis community.

'Hík̓an̓akvḷaƛṇts Adult Immersion - Elder Mentorship

This supports language revitalization through on the land/water learning and elder support for those studying the Heiltsuk Language in Bella Bella, BC, where students, following the Salish INLG program vetted through Simon Fraser University, are working to earn their First Nation’s Language certificate or diploma.

Herman’s Gwigili - These Are Our Ways

To meet the needs of the Kwakiutl People, various intergenerational gatherings will be hosted where Knowledge Keepers - language speakers, cultural carriers, and traditional healers will provide learning, sharing, and teaching opportunities with the Kwakiutl community.

Halq’eméylem Language Classes

Cheam First Nation is launching a comprehensive language revitalization program to teach Halq’eméylem, the CFN’s traditional language, to children in the community between ages 0-6. The program’s overarching goal is to create a new generation of fluent Halq’eméylem speakers while strengthening intergenerational bonds and encouraging community-wide healing.

Indigenous Rooting

Cultivating Indigenous plants with medicinal, nutritional, and cultural significance will strengthen cultural revitalization and knowledge preservation amongst members of The North Fraser Métis Association. The garden will serve as a living repository of Indigenous plant knowledge, enabling the community to engage with these traditions directly and create an accessible space for learning and reconnection.

Strengthening Care Transitions

This project, lead by St. Paul’s Foundation of Vancouver, in collaboration with other Providence Health Care sites and the First Nations Aboriginal Primary Care Network, aims to create a more equitable and culturally safe healthcare environment for all Indigenous Peoples by addressing the systemic barriers that Indigenous patients face and implementing culturally responsive transition practices that will enhance continuity of care, reduce hospital readmissions, and improve patient experience.

Indigenous Families Reconnecting to Their Roots

This project, offered by the Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society, focuses on supporting First Nations parents with hands-on skills and understanding child development. The services include play groups, parent meetings, group activities, workshops, and a resource library. The program uses a holistic, Indigenous approach to wellness and education that ensures that clients receive the best practices of both Aboriginal and mainstream services, support, and assistance.

Beyond Reconciliation

Two activities are supported through this grant. One is an Indigenous Women’s Retreat called “Embedding Cultural Competency in Care” and the other is a “Native Men’s Wellness Day” which will be hosted at the Native Education College in Vancouver. Both events provide the the time and space needed for healing, meaningful relationship building, ceremony, and shared learning.