En’owkin Centre, SnPink’tn. Photo: Cheyenne Bergenhenegouwen
Indigenous Grants Stream Supports 21 Land-Based Projects
Guided by a diverse 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 BC.
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, and contribute to the assertion of Indigenous rights and title.
In November 2023, the ICLC approved a second round of grants totalling $2,550,000. The ICLC awarded $1,350,000 in new grants to nine projects ($150,000 per project) and $1,200,000 in renewed funding to 12 grantees ($100,000 per project) from the first round.
We are grateful to ICLC members Norm Allard, Marilyn Baptiste, Lana Lowe, and Taylor Wale (Luu’Maja) for their leadership and generosity.
We wish to give a special thank-you to Patrick Michell, who departed the ICLC in November. We wish Patrick well in his new role with Lytton First Nation (Tl’kemtsin).
Many thanks are due to Jessie Hemphill, Robbie Knott, and Ren Roberts of Sa̱nala Planning for facilitation.
New Grants
A̱ka̱la Outdoor Education Society
Youth Leadership Paddle Program
En’owkin Centre (Okanagan Indian Educational Resources Society)
Ks k̓ʷəck̓ʷəcstim̓ aʔ cnq̓aʔilsmstm il tmxʷulaxʷtət — Strengthening Capacity for the Places of Concern in Our Territory
Gidimt’en Checkpoint (Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition)
Strengthening Our Leadership: Community and Frontline Healing
Indigenous Law Research Unit (University of Victoria)
ILRU Methodology Workshops
Maiyoo Keyoh Society
Keyoh Whudulhdzas-un — The People Who Live Off the Land
Taku River Tlingit First Nation
Strengthening Taku River Tlingit Traditional Food Security and Cultural Connections to Land and Waters Through the Tlatsini Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Initiative
Tsleil-Waututh Nation siʔáḿθɘt School
Healing Through Cultural and Land-Based Education
XAXE TEṈEW̱ Sacred Land Society
Rematriate Stewardship Project
Yaqan Nukiy (Lower Kootenay Band)
Restoring Cultural Values and Environmental Flows on the Goat River
Coastal Foodways: Fostering Food Resiliency on the Central Coast
On the Skeena River, a Gitxsan Fish Camp Connects Children and Culture
Renewed Grants
Coastal Foodways
Catalytic Support for Central Coast Food Champions
Dena Kayeh Institute
National Kaska Elders Council
Indigenous Physical Activity and Cultural Circle
Indigenous Land-Based Physical Activity Training for Canoe Warriors
Kanaka Bar Indian Band (T’eqt’aqtn’mux)
Kanaka Bar Food Self-Sufficiency Initiatives
Lax Skiik Connection Society
Ts’eliksit Language and Culture Camp (Gitxsan)
Moccasin Footprint Society
Te Tímeltk (To Go to Higher Areas)
Nawalakw Culture Project (MakeWay Charitable Society)
Summer Internship Program
Qwelmínte Secwépemc
Knowledge Builders Program
Saulteau First Nations
Trails and Caribou Habitat: Saulteau Indigenous Knowledge
Swiilawiid Sustainability Society
SSS Taking Care of Haida Gwaii
Tū’desē’cho Wholistic Indigenous Leadership Development Society
Tene Mehodihi Youth Leadership
Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi ’it First Nation (Tobacco Plains Indian Band)
Shottanana Lake North Wetland Restoration
REFBC is committed to supporting the advancement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Rights (UNDRIP). Ensuring Indigenous peoples are active in the decision-making processes for grants supporting land-based work is connected to upholding UNDRIP Articles 18, 26, and 28.
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