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Indigenous Grants Stream Supports 18 Land-Based Projects
Tūdes̱e chō, Tāłtān konelin. Photo: Stephen Hui
Indigenous Grants Stream Supports 18 Land-Based Projects
Guided by a group of First Nations leaders, the Real Estate Foundation of BC’s Indigenous Grants Stream supports Indigenous-led, land-based projects across what’s known as British Columbia.
As directed by REFBC’s Indigenous Community Leaders Circle (ICLC), funding from the Indigenous Grants Stream goes to projects that:
- Support Indigenous people in getting out on the land and water.
- Build Indigenous community leadership (especially among youth).
- Center Indigenous culture and knowledge.
- Advance Indigenous governance.
- Contribute to the assertion of Indigenous rights and title.
In 2024-25, the ICLC awarded a total of $3,399,900 in grants to support 18 projects. (See the list of grants below.)
In November 2024, the ICLC was thrilled to welcome two new members: Ryan Day and Johnny Mack.
Day is from St’uxwtéws (Bonaparte Indian Band, Secwepémc Nation), where he formerly served as elected Kukpi7 (Chief). Day is a husband, father, brother, long-distance runner, hunter, fisher, berry-picker, root-digger, thinker, and builder.
Mack is from the Toquaht Nation (Nuu-chah-nulth) and is Assistant Professor at the UBC Allard School of Law. An impassioned advocate for Indigenous Peoples on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Mack’s involvement has been both formal, as a policy analyst for Aboriginal organizations, and informal, as a community activist working to create constructive critical dialogue about contemporary treaty negotiations.
Day and Mack joined Norm Allard Jr., Marilyn Baptiste, Lana Lowe, and Taylor Wale (Luu’Maja) on the ICLC.
We wish to give a special thank-you to Lana Lowe, who departed the ICLC in March 2025.
Many thanks are also due to Dana Moraes and Jalissa Moody of Sa̱nala Planning for facilitation. REFBC created the ICLC in 2022, and funding from the Indigenous Grants Stream first flowed to projects in 2023.
Quotes — Indigenous Community Leaders Circle
“Real, lasting change is not about prescribing solutions but about creating the conditions for communities to thrive on their own terms. By breaking down barriers to funding and redefining how support is provided, we can help bridge the gaps that colonial systems have left behind. This is a process of unlearning and rebuilding, one that centers equity, resilience, and empowerment.”
Norm Allard Jr.
“It has been a great privilege to get to learn from and work alongside the Indigenous Community Leaders Circle and each of the Indigenous Grants Stream recipients, who have been so generous with sharing their stories and knowledge with us. Getting to build relationships with each of these projects, and the lands and communities they serve, has lent so much strength and guidance to my own work on Gitxsan territories. All my gratitude to the grant recipients who continue to do such grounded and impactful work — we’re all better off because of you. T’oyaxsi’nism!”
Taylor Wale (Luu’Maja)
Grants — 2024–25
Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs (Gitanyow Huwilp Society)
Back to the Lax Yip Youth Worker
$220,000
Ha’oom Fisheries Society
Hishuk ish tsa’walk Fisheries Initiative
$220,000
Homalco First Nation (Xwemalhkwu)
Guardian Stewardship Program
$220,000
Indigenous Women Rise Society
Indigenous Land-Based Healing and Food Sovereignty
$220,000
Iskut Band Council
Ealue Family Camp
$220,000
Moccasin Footprint Society
Nusq’lst Village Rebuild
$73,300
Mother Earth Cultural Conservation Society
If We Take Care of the Land, It Will Take Care of Us
$220,000
Secwépemc Hunting Society
Secwépemc Hunting Camp
$220,000
Taku River Tlingit First Nation
Tlingit Language Connections to Clan Governance and Belonging
$220,000
Tl’esqox (Toosey Indian Band)
Tl’esqox Equine Program
$220,000
Treaty 8 Tribal Association
Elders Circle
$100,000
Tŝideldel First Nation
Tŝideldel ʔesqax nalhiny belh jeneyax (Tŝideldel Youth Growing Up With Horses)
$220,000
Ts’msyen Culture Society
Ha’lilaxsi’wah
$73,300
Tū’desē’cho Wholistic Indigenous Leadership Development Society
Tene Mehodihi Youth Leadership
$73,300
Wilps Gwininitxw (Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition)
Gwininitxw Protected Area
$220,000
Yuneŝit’in Government
Expansion of Yuneŝit’in Youth Horse Program
$220,000
Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government (Ucluelet First Nation)
Hitacu Garden Development
$220,000
ʔaq’am (ʔaq’am Flagging & Safety Ltd.)
ʔa·kinq̓uku Cultural and Prescribed Burning Initiative
$220,000
REFBC is committed to supporting the advancement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Ensuring Indigenous people are active in the decision-making processes for grants supporting land-based work is connected to upholding UNDRIP Articles 18, 26, and 28.
Published on: July 2, 2025
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