by Laurel Anne Stark | photos courtesy NIȽ TU,O Child & Family Services –
NIȽ TU,O ensures Coast Salish children and youth stay connected to their community, culture and language by hosting ongoing Culture Camps.
Led by NIȽ TU,O staff and grounded in the Coast Salish worldview, these camps are held during the spring and summer months and on pro-D days throughout the year.
The days are structured to include a variety of activities that keep kids engaged, happy and excited. In the summer months, the Culture Camps also go on overnight camping trips to experience the land their ancestors come from.
Camp this year included a visit to Luke Marston’s carving shop to see the carving of NIL TU,O’s traditional canoe (bottom left), exploring local parks, as well as going to the movies, bowling, Malahat SkyWalk and pottery painting. Cultural education activities included making medicine pouches, bannock, beading and clamshell rattles.
Centering the camps on cultural activities such as carving, harvesting medicine and cultural work fosters a connection with self and with others. The children were most deeply engaged in activities that were closely tied to culture.
Vanessa, (shown top left) one of the camp leaders, mentions a memorable moment that exemplifies the enrichment that Culture Camps offer. Of the medicine pouch activity, Vanessa says: “The medicine pouch activity was really nice because the activity took place in the NIȽ TU,O cultural building where Indigenous music was featured in the background and you could probably hear a pin drop because the kids were just so concentrated on what they were doing.”
She considers it a special moment, sharing: “To see them all quiet and concentrating so hard really showed how interested and excited the children were.”
Ongoing education about cultural protocols, land and place names and connection to plant and animal relatives reinforces cultural teachings from relatives and reminds children they belong to a culture that has lived in this area since time immemorial. As such, the Culture Camps are major contributors to the happiness and health of Coast Salish children in care and children living in community.
Specifically being around other Coast Salish youth can be medicine for kids in care. Lydia says: “For them to be able to be at that camp, learning about their cultural identity and connecting with other kids that are experiencing the same things I think makes a huge difference.”
Both Lydia and Vanessa light up when they share about what the Culture Camps does for children. There was a weaving workshop in November, and plans for cultural camps on Pro-D days and over Spring Break.
Culture camps are one of the many ways NIȽ TU,O is proud to support Coast Salish youth as they explore their identity and learn more about nature, culture and other important parts of life.
