Squamish Nation garden project revived with grant funding

Like a dormant bulb sprouting again after a long winter, a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) gardening project is coming back to life.

The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw Valley Garden Project has recently been 'watered' by a grant to help it grow. 

The project includes supplying 50 garden boxes to Nation members to "revive social connection and teach youths how to be self-sustainable by growing their own food," according to a news release.

The initiative was underway before COVID-19 but wilted during the pandemic, like everything else. 

However, the garden box project is one of seven to receive funding from Kia Communities in Motion, a four-year partnership between Kia Canada and Community Foundations of Canada that will see Kia provide $1.4 million to grassroots projects across the country that build inclusivity — like the garden box project.

This is the second year of the partnership 

“Movement can spark inspiration and fuel innovative ideas in communities,” said Andrea Dicks, president at Community Foundations of Canada, in the release. “We are pleased to see the incredible projects funded through Kia Communities in Motion’s second year. These projects showcase the brilliance of charities and non-profits across the country as they move communities forward through innovative solutions rooted in building a future where everyone flourishes.

This new funding will allow the Squamish program to be rejuvenated and expanded, said Christine Baker (TlatlaKwot), the Nation's Squamish Valley Operations manager. 

 “A few years ago, Squamish Nation – Squamish Valley Operations introduced a Garden Box program to strengthen our Food Systems; however, the pandemic forced us to limit our community work — delivering soil, compost and seedlings at community member doors only,” she said in the release. “With Kia Communities in Motion, we have a huge opportunity to bring our 50-plus garden boxes back into action, working with skilled local gardeners to completely rework our food systems and processing. O’Siem.”

An example of a pre-pandemic workshop was at Squamish Valley Teen Centre Waiwakum, where youth took garden tomatoes and learned how to make salsa, which they then took home in jars to share with family.

That is the kind of initiative the funding will help with. 

 "It's bringing our community as a whole — so families, youth, elders — and looking at reviving and teaching and learning how to preserve, learning how to cook, learning how to prepare — all of that stuff," Baker said. 

She told The Squamish Chief that the ultimate goal is to help members return to traditional ways and pass on skills. 

"We want to get back to our traditional foods and our traditional medicines. We are getting more and more local Nation members who are able to help us with that," she said, noting that there used to be Sḵwx̱wú7mesh farms in this region. 

"My dad, his family had farms in Brackendale," she said. 

She hopes that one day there will be a farm on Nation land out in the valley.

 "We're working towards it," she said.

With its recent funding, Kia in Motion also partnered with local foundations; in the Sea to Sky's case, that was the  Squamish Community Foundation.

The Squamish project was the only one from B.C. on the list. 

Other recipients included:    

●       Multicultural Association of Charlotte County Inc., in New Brunswick

●       Neighbourhood Works Inc., in New Brunswick

●       Multiethnic Center of Québec, in Quebec

●       Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton, in Ontario

●       Halton Environmental Network, in Ontario

●       Ukrainian Folk Arts Centre and Museum Inc, in Manitoba