Photo Galleries
Children's Christmas Party 2022
Thursday, December 1st was our annual Holiday Children’s Party at the BC forest discovery centre. Families enjoyed their time doing festive activities and the famous train ride through the Christmas wonderland. What a great time!
Caregiver Appreciation Dinner 2022
Wednesday, October 26th we gathered at the Snuneymuxw Gym to honour and celebrate our Le’lumilh that care for our children and youth within our 9 member Nations. We raise our hands for your strength and grace. #CaregiverAppreciationMonth
Fun Activities at the Penelakut Youth Building
Every Friday until November 4th, youth gathered with Chris Arnett for fun activities such as sports, games, walks, and more!
Honouring our Children 2022
Over 45 parents and caregivers gathered for our "Honouring Our Children" Event at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre. The day included Parenting workshops, resources, vendors and support services to empower parents and caregivers of Indigenous children
Truth and Reconciliation Day 2022
In honour of #truthandreconciliation youth and community members distributed Traditional food hampers to give back to our Elders living outside of community. 100 households in the Nanaimo and Chemainus area received ingredients for a delicious fish soup – food for the soul! Huy tseep q’u/Kleco Nuu-Chah-Nulth for donating the fish and Thrifty Foods for providing us with the vegetables.
Ashley Callingbull Guest Speaker in Snuneymuxw
Wednesday, September 28th, families gathered at the Snuneymuxw Recreation and Wellness Centre to hear about the incredible journey of Indigenous activist, model and actress Ashley Callingbull.
9 Nations Lacrosse Community Day
Friday, August 19th over 40 children and youth gathered at the Covered Sports Court to play the Creator's game with the famous Thompson brother's. Lyle and Hiana Thompson went over fun drills and shared teachings such as, that it's not about winning or losing, its about the energy, the healing energy and the harder you play the stronger the medicine.
Sports Day for Kids in Care 2022
Tuesday, August 16th Over 20 kinship and children in care participated in our Summer Sports Day where they played a variety of sports and activities such as the potato sack race, marshmallow race, tug of war and much more!
9 Nations Lacrosse Sumer Camp 2022
Coaches visited Snaw-Naw-As Snuneymuxw, Stz'uminus and Malahat over the Summer at each community lacrosse box to teach skills of the creators game. The last session in the month of July was followed by a Movie Showing of "The Medicine Game".
Drop-in Kayak 2022
Every Wednesday for the summer break our Wellness team hosted a drop-in Kayak program at Transfer Beach open to families from our 9 nations for a fun kayaking experience where all equipment, lessons and PFD was provided!
9 Nations Wellbriety
Wednesday, July 7th we celebrated and honoured our Welbriety members who started their new chapter of good health and wellness.
Malahat Field Trip 2022
Thursday, June 23rd Malahat families with children ages 0-6 took a trip to Butchart Gardens with our Early Years Worker Michelle Antione to enjoy an outing with the family. During this beautiful day, families explored and toured the colourful, lively gardens.
Indigenous Peoples Day 2022
Tuesday, June 21st Kw'umut Lelum gathered and celebrated our culture, our resilience, and our families at Swy-A-Lana, Stz'uminus, Lyackson and Halalt. We raise our hands to our staff, families and communities for helping us all to honour and celebrate our culture on National Indigenous People's Day.
Cedar Gala Celebrates 25 years
Thursday, March 24th, Kw'umut Lelum hosted a Cedar Gala where we celebrated 25 years of providing Indigenous-centered programming and services as an agency, as well as the creation of the newly-launched Kw'umut Lelum Foundation. At the VI Conference Centre, more than 250 guests gathered together for an opportunity to recognize and honour our incredible achievements over the past 25 years and to collaborate, grow partnerships, and unite efforts to expand cultural, economic, social, educational, and recreational access for our families.
Respecting the Harvest 2022
We hosted a very successful program where youth in care learned practical firearm safety, and shooting skills while taking in the snuw'uyulh related to harvesting food, and learned about their inherent rights to hunt
Penelakut Youth Centre Grand Opening 2022
a large gathering of community members joined us to celebrate the grand opening of the Penelakut Youth Centre. The afternoon began with a drum and dance ceremony, followed by the cutting of the ribbon by Chief Brown and KL ED Bill Yoachim, and a tour of the building and amenities.
Family Retreat 2022
Kw’umut Lelum hosted our first 3-Day Family Retreat where 10 families shared, practiced, and connected to Coast Salish ways through Traditional teachings and hands on crafts and activities at the Cowichan Lake Education Centre. Cultural Worker, William Johnny and Frankie Shaw taught the families how to create their own drum, as well as the unique steps of wool weaving. Participants also painted their own mini paddles, canvases, explored nature and much more!
Stz'uminus Community Walk 2022
We drew strength from each other as we took part in the Stz'uminus First Nation Community walk to honour #MissingandMurderedIndigenousWomenandGirls. When we gather together to share our voices and our songs, this is good medicine.
Honouring our Sisters 2022
Women from across the island and the mainland gathered Friday, May 6th for the Honouring our Sisters Conference. It was a beautiful day as we shared our voices and were surrounded by powerful and strong women. We raise our hands to the guests, keynote speakers, elders, vendors and support staff for creating a safe space for women to come together and connect. We are all warriors!
Fishing Derby 2022
Sunday, June 5th was a big catch as members from our 9 Nations gathered for our 2nd annual Ku’ki’youk Fishing Derby where over 20 vessels spent the day out on the beautiful waters of Shell Beach. This was a day to celebrate and exercise our inherent right to fish in traditional territory, and enjoy a little friendly competition in the process.
Earth Day 2022
This year Kw'umut Lelum celebrated this day by honoring Snuneymuxw First Nation and cleaning up debris along Shoreline Dr. And surrounding areas. We collected and disposed of over 5 bins worth of debris and garbage. Huy tseep q’u to all the community members and KL staff who joined us to celebrate Earth Day
Hope & Health 2019
Kw’umut Lelum is very proud to be one of the primary sponsors of the 8th Annual Hope and Health event, a soccer-based movement that engages Indigenous youth and children to improve long-term health and life outcomes.
The high-experienced Vancouver Whitecaps made an appearance in Nanaimo at the Bowen Park grass field, on August 19th to interact & inspire aboriginal children & youth (ages 5-18) providing a full day-camp of skill & drill training. However, this day was more than just about sport; it held building resiliency, self-confidence, and relationships that develop a positive sense of self.
Hope & Health 2018
The 7th Annual Hope and Health Soccer event on August 20th brought together hundreds of children and familes from more than 25 Nations for a day of sport, music and fun in Nanaimo.
Photos by Tricia Thomas
Hope and Health 2016
“Through Hope and Health, if we can help change that cycle of kids coming into care, one family at a time,” says Bill Yoachim, Executive Director of Kw’umut Lelum, “it’s well worth every ounce of energy we put into this event.”
Throughout the day, children and youth participated in soccer drills, took part in crafts and cultural activities, and those without soccer cleats were given a brand new pair to keep as part of a boot drive organized by the Whitecaps FC and Adidas.
Tribal Journeys 2019
From July 15th to July 26th, the Kw'umut Lelum Canoe family travelled with 16 youth for 11 days from Puyallup to Lummi.
On every canoe journey our youth continue to grow spirtitually,mentally, emotionally & physically as young Hwulmuhw Mustimuhw. We made many adjustments to the program this year to continue to provide for the safety and wellbeing to our youth; some wanted to go but didn't want to be on the water so they participated as road crew; and on nights when protocol ran very late, we made the decision together to return to camp to rest rather than wait to perform so that our youth could get the proper rest and care they needed for the journey
Tribal Journeys 2018
From July 16th to August 1st, the Kw’umut Lelum canoe family travels from Kulleet Bay in Stz’uminus all the way to Puyallup in Washington State. This Journey takes us along the watery highway of our ancestors, in a cedar canoe carved by Luke and John Marston with help from our own KL youth. Each day we stop in a new territory, arriving as friends on the shores of different Nations, growing in number as we are joined by more and more canoe families along the route.
Tribal Journeys 2016
Tribal Canoe Journeys is a celebrated event for the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Nations from the coast of Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington state participate every year in these Tribal Canoe Journeys.
These are a sequence of canoe journeys taken up by canoe families, nations, and groups who travel in ocean-going canoes, either authentic replicas of traditional canoes, made out of solid cedar logs or various replicas using more modern techniques and materials.
Mini Longhouse
Youth and caregivers built a beautiful scaled down long house with Spirit Works to be the heart of Kw'umut Lelum's new Four Seasons Cultural Program. The longhouse will be used by children, families and caregivers to learn traditional Coast Salish arts and crafts including cedar weaving, carving and drum making.
The Mini Longhouse also provides a comfortable and inspiring setting to hold family circles as well as staff gatherings and inter-agency meetings. The Mini Longhouse can be booked by external agencies and organizations by calling Kw'umut Lelum's receptionist.
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Penelakut Elders Forum
Penelakut Elders dialogue with Kw'umut Lelum Leadership, Chief and Counsel and special guest the Child and Youth Representative, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond. The Representative spoke of the need to safeguard children from abuse and neglect and encourage healthy lifestyles.
Kw'umut Lelum recognizes the importance of facilitating ongoing dialogue with their Member Nation's Elders in order to best understand the their community's aspirations and to bring forward their teachings of the ancestors.
KL 20th Anniversary
Kw’umut Lelum want to raise our hands to thank all who attended our Strong Roots, Strong Families 20th Anniversary Celebration. The event was a huge success thanks to the participation of our staff, volunteers, KL youth and families and community leaders! More than 200 people joined the celebration at the Halalt gym and athletic field on July 6th.
Appreciation Luncheon
On November 8th, Kw’umut Lelum hosted a lunch to say hych'ka siem to the wonderful members of our community who helped our family following the recent fire at our Centre St offices.
KL staff were joined by Nanaimo Fire Chief Craig Richardson, first responder fire fighters, and many of our colleagues from the Ministry of Child and Family Development to share a meal and a prayer and to gather in thanks for the continued safety and wellbeing of our children and community.