Indigenous Peoples

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.

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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.

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 #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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.