Almost 80 hectares of federal land in Nanaimo, B.C., has been added to the Snuneymuxw First Nation's reserve lands.
Almost 80 hectares of federal land in Nanaimo, B.C., has been added to the Snuneymuxw First Nation's reserve lands.
The property, formerly known as Camp Nanaimo, was once the site of the Nanaimo Indian Hospital and was also used by the Department of National Defence. It makes up part of Snuneymuxw's te’tuxwtun [Mount Benson] site.
"This is the moment our people have worked towards for generations," Snuneymuxw Chief Mike Wyse said at a press conference on Thursday.
While visiting Nanaimo, British Columbia this week I spent a morning at Departure Bay. The bay and the neighbourhood surrounding it were incorporated into the city of Nanaimo in the 1970s. The Trans-Canada Highway on Vancouver Island terminates at Departure Bay where the BC Ferry Terminal is located. The ferry connects the island to the mainland and is itself a component of the highway.
The…
NANAIMO – Ellen White recognized for her efforts to preserve Hul'qumi'num language.
Snuneymuxw elder Ellen White has been named to the Order of Canada.
Gov. Gen. David Johnston made the announcement Friday that White, or Kwulsaulwut (Many Stars) had been appointed to the order “for her work as an elder and community leader, and for her efforts to preserve the Hul’qumi’num language,” according to a press release.
While was recognized for her role as a Coast Salish cultural leader, grounded in the traditional teachings she received from her grandmother Mary Rice, among others.
At a young age, with several of her cousins, her training and teaching in Coast Salish knowledge began. She was taught to be a midwife and helped to deliver a baby for the first time at the age of nine. She was also taught about traditional medicines, spirituality, and ceremony.
In the middle of her life, she went to the University of Victoria to study linguistics to equip herself with the tools needed to work to help to preserve and share the Hul’qumi’num language.
“The entire family is extremely honoured for the recognition that has been bestowed upon our mother by the Governor General for her lifetime of work and service to the First Nations community and also to the non-First Nations community,” said her son, Doug White, Jr., a councillor with Snuneymux First Nation. “My mother has done significant work that has helped to build understandings between First Nations and non-First Nations people – this includes the publishing of multiple books of Coast Salish stories and her political work and advocacy that has helped to establish good working relationships and improved quality of life by securing essential services such as water and electricity for our community.”
