Monthly Archives: May 2021

The W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council (WLC) grieves with the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc, and with all of the families of the children lost to the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Children's shoes are placed on the staircase outside Vancouver Art Gallery to remember the 215 Tk’emlups te Secwépemc children lost to the residential school system. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) Gord Elliott, Director of Operations stated: “There are no words to express the deep loss that we feel as W̱SÁNEĆ people, and as survivors when we hear an announcement like this. While we knew many children in our communities that did not [...]

Interested in a career at sea? Camosun College in partnership with BCIT is offering FREE training to Indigenous students through their Bridge Watch Program.   In this info session we chatted with: Shauna Johnson, WLC's Marine Use Planner who shared about upcoming career opportunities for people with this training, as well as her experience attending Camosun. Richard Watts, the most recent Indigenous graduate of the Bridge Watch Program who shared his experience applying, in the classroom and out looking for a job with his new Bridge Watch Certification. Cindy Drover-Davidson, the Bridge Watch Rating Program Coordinator at Camosun [...]

Out of respect for the family in Tsawout, we are postponing tonight's community engagement session, until further notice. After the update yesterday from Dr. Bonnie Henry and the phased approach to easing restrictions, we are hoping that things go well and we can start to gather in person soon. ---- WLC Community Engagement for Marine and Land Use Planning For W̱SÁNEĆ Community members only. Door prizes awarded. The next session is May 26th, register here.  Shown above: one of the outcomes of the sessions is the ongoing creation of various maps that will help to assert the W̱SÁNEĆ [...]

Last summer, The W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council’s youth advisory committee organized a day of learning on the land at QENEṈ,IW̱. Under the guidance of Elders Eric W̱IĆKINEM Pelkey and Belinda SELILIYE Claxton, and sponsored by the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council, 16 youth and 3 Elders met at QENEṈ,IW̱ (Hay Point reserve land) on S,DÁYES (South Pender). The W̱SÁNEĆ Youth day at QENEṈ,IW̱ was an extension of the ṮEṮÁĆES Climate Action Project which combines current climate science with Traditional Knowledge of the W̱SÁNEĆ people to inform and support decision-making on land use and climate action at both the local and [...]

Shauna Johnson is the Marine Use Planner for the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council.  Over the past year, she’s been facilitating regular community engagement sessions.  Some of you have asked questions about the sessions, so we asked Shauna to share her answers with us.  Q: Why should I participate / what’s in it for me? SJ: In our day-to-day lives, we see a lot of things we don’t agree with regarding the current state of our communities. My job is to listen to what you are concerned about and translate your concerns into a solid, living, breathing plan, with clear [...]