by Katharina Stocker | photos courtesy NIȽ TU,O Child & Family Services – 

NIȽ TU,O Child and Family Services Society recently released a new tool to support Coast Salish young adults and community members: the Culture & Care Daily Planner. Designed specifically to meet the needs of young adults, this flexible, undated planner is intentionally designed to provide the user with an immersive and interactive cultural experience.

The materials for the Planner draw from the scholarship of renowned knowledge holders and features beautifully illustrated artwork of Coast Salish artists.

To help preserve traditional dialects, the Planner is full of phrases and words in SENĆOŦEN, Hul’q’umi’num’ and lək̓ʷəŋən, including greetings, place names and the names of animals from Coast Salish territory.

To facilitate deeper learning and preserve oral teaching traditions, users can access recordings of Knowledge Holders speaking via QR codes scattered throughout the Planner, or online at www.niltuo.ca/speak.

A comprehensive guide to the 13 W̱SÁNEĆ moons and Hul’q’umi’num’ months also helps users stay in sync with the natural rhythms of Coast Salish life.

To help young adults cultivate security, plan for the future and have peace of mind, budgeting tools are provided. A space to set financial goals and a built-in space to summarize spending and savings weekly brings awareness to spending and saving habits.

Finally, recognizing that “self-care is not separate from our cultural identity – it is an extension of our commitment to honour our ancestors, culture and future generations” – the Planner features an abundance of self-care activities and health tips, such as a daily healthy habits tracker, a weekly pause to reflect on self-care, designated spaces to draw and colour, reflections and questions accompanied by journaling opportunities and some helpful resources, such as the number for the KUU-US Crisis Line Society.

An emphasis on Care Rooted in Culture encourages users to consider their well-being through the lens of an EN I,SOET ŚELOQ – or, Wellness Wheel. This tool helps young adults assess their level of satisfaction in each of the key wellness areas, including:

• ŚW̱ELO₭E, I, ŚĆÁLEĆE (Family and Friends),
• S₭O (Significant Other),
• ĆELÁṈEN I, SNEPENEḴ (Culture and Tradition),
• QENT TŦE S,HELI (Nurturing Spirit),
• QENT TŦE S,EȽTÁLṈEW (Physical Health),
• IYES I, ȻÍXIU,SEṈ (Fun and Recreation),
• ṮOṮEM TŦE SĆȺ (Career Satisfaction), and
• QENT TŦE ŚḰÁḰ LEȻEN (Stress Management).

This initiative is one small part of NIȽ TU,O’s ongoing work to keep Coast Salish children – who have historically been overrepresented in the foster-care system – with their families and in their community by providing culturally-safe programs and services “built on a foundation of our SNEPENEK (teaching) of our SULKWAN (Elders).”

NIȽ TU,O is hopeful the planner will serve as a powerful, culture-centred support to young adults moving into their next stage of life. A pdf copy of the planner is now available on the NIȽ TU,O website: https://niltuo.ca/ under resources.