Initial restoration of ȾIKEL is underway, with seed harvesting, invasive species removal, and log delivery events paving the way for W̱SÁNEĆ Community-Led Wetland Restoration Planning in 2025, and the land’s ultimate return to its natural state and important cultural role within W̱SÁNEĆ territory.

Before it was taken by settlers, ȾIKEL was a 300-acre wetland stewarded by W̱SÁNEĆ. Settlers drained the land for farming purposes, destroying the original ecosystem. In late 2023, the Berglund Family recognized the need for reconciliation and restoration in this place and decided to return a 47.5-acre parcel in the heart of ȾIKEL to W̱SÁNEĆ through the W̱SÁNEĆ Lands Trust Society (WLTS) through the Ecological Gifts Program. Now that the land is back in the care of W̱SÁNEĆ, WLTS is working with W̱SÁNEĆ communities to repair the land from the harmful impacts of farming and return it to its natural state as wetlands. This will not only dramatically improve the ecosystem, but will also make it possible for W̱SÁNEĆ to reconnect with this culturally significant land which, historically, provided an abundance of traditional materials and medicines.

In beginning the repair work at ȾIKEL, the WLTS learned that one Native Species at Risk – the Vancouver Island Beggarticks (Bidens Amplissima) – is growing in abundance on the land. To date, WLTS hasn’t been able to find the SENĆOŦEN name for this species yet, but we do know that the impressive pre-colonial seed bank has survived over a century of intensive industrial farming. ȾIKEL now appears to have the largest population of this plant anywhere on the planet. To ensure the safety of this plant, WLTS dedicated a day to harvesting Vancouver Island Beggarticks seeds for future planting and preservation – both at ȾIKEL and for other lands which would benefit from the presence of this Native Species. 

The Community Seed Harvesting Day took place on October 4th, 2024. The event provided a meaningful opportunity for land restoration, a step towards restoring the cultural connection between W̱SÁNEĆ and ȾIKEL, and a powerful display of collaboration amongst organizations like Tsartlip Stewardship Department, Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT), and Satinflower Nurseries. Another organization, PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ Foundation, also came out to gather seeds on October 3rd for use in their other restoration sites at SṈIDȻEȽ and elsewhere in the territory. 

We opened the event with a prayer, and by the end of the morning, attendees had collected two 100-litre totes of seed. The seed collected was taken to MÁWUEĆ Farm to dry. Once dry, two full racks of seed were gifted to Tsartlip for their restoration work at MÁWUEĆ. WLTS will also provide seed to Tseycum for their projects as needed.

One week after the main event, the HAT crew returned to ȾIKEL to harvest even more Native seeds for WLTS’ future restoration work. Seeds collected include ṮEṮ (One Sided Sedge), SȾÁ,KEN (Cattail, Small-flowered Bulrush), Water Smartweed, Softstem Bulrush, Tarweed, Hardstem Bulrush, X̱₭EL,E (Common Spike Rush), ḴEL¸ḴE¸IȽĆ (Nootka Rose), and Cluster Rose among others.

Next, WLTS will host community sessions where interested community members can help process the seeds collected, providing an additional opportunity to bring people together over the shared goal of restoring the land and the traditional cultural connection between W̱SÁNEĆ and ȾIKEL.

Another major collaborative restoration event took place at ȾIKEL on August 2nd and 6th, 2024. The two-day event brought together the team members at WLTS and the youth involved in the Youth Reef Net Program at WLC. 

The restoration of ȾIKEL is particularly significant to the youth in the Reef Net Program because, traditionally, ȾIKEL was the gathering place for one of the primary materials used to make reef nets: SX̱ ELE,IȽĆ (Pacific Willow). By contributing to the restoration efforts directly, youth are furthering the revitalization of traditional ways of reef net fishing and developing traditional knowledge regarding the harvesting of SX̱ ELE,IȽĆ which will help ensure reef net fishing is practiced by future generations.

The Youth of the Reef Net Program and the WLTS team members worked side-by-side throughout the day in active collaboration. The day began with a prayer by cultural monitor Barry Underwood, followed by a circle of introductions. Then, Joni Olsen and Eryn Rogers presented the history of ȾIKEL as an important traditional territory, and the details around the return of ȾIKEL to W̱SÁNEĆ, and Emily Quiring demonstrated how to properly pull Purple Loosestrife, an invasive species. Finally, with Purple Loosestrife ID cards in hand, the youth went out for a full day of removing the invasive species from the land. WLC provided lunch to all attendees. The youth returned for another half-day of Purple Loosestrife removal on August 6th, 2024.

A larger-scale removal of Purple Loosestrife is planned for 2025, providing an opportunity to bring even more community members together to restore the land and the cultural connection between the land and W̱SÁNEĆ.

In an additional effort to restore ȾIKEL, a team mowed a noxious weed called Unscented Chamomile to prevent its further spread. As the team mowed the chamomile, birds swarmed the area to eat the bugs turned up by the mowing.

Finally, WLTS is utilizing logs and stumps donated by neighbouring property owners to rebuild the wetlands’ peat layer, a critical ground layer that acts as a habitat and allows the wetland to store and filter water and carbon. Once the peat layer is restored, the land will be less prone to flooding and drought and water quality in the area will improve. WLTS plans to utilize the logs for this process once landscaping for the wetland begins. Until then, WLTS is storing the logs on the south end of the land.

These steps to restore ȾIKEL are just the beginning. WLTS recently secured funding to undertake a W̱SÁNEĆ-led planning process for major restoration works and will be looking to start this planning with community in the new year.

In the meantime, there are plenty of opportunities for community members to get involved in the restoration of ȾIKEL and the reconnection of ȾIKEL and W̱SÁNEĆ. All are invited to participate in processing the seeds collected during The Community Seed Harvesting Day, for example. Additionally, WLTS is in need of more logs to restore the peat layer and community members with access to logs are encouraged to donate. Community members interested in processing seeds or donating logs can contact landstrust@wsanec.com for more information. 

Finally, those with the ability to make a financial contribution to these efforts can do so on the WLTS webpage. All contributions, big or small, are appreciated and make a significant impact.

To stay up to date on opportunities to help with the restoration of ȾIKEL and the critical reconnection between ȾIKEL and W̱SÁNEĆ, be sure to subscribe to the WLTS newsletter. 

Get involved in the important work at ȾIKEL today in one of three ways: 1) contact landstrust@wsanec.com to volunteer to help process the seeds collected on Community Seed Harvesting Day; 2) contact landstrust@wsanec.com to arrange a donation of logs, stumps or other material; or 3) make a financial contribution on the WLTS webpage. Additional opportunities to support are coming soon; WLTS will provide details to the community as they arise.