Heiltsuk rising

"They tried to strip us of our culture."
The Heiltsuk people have lived on B.C.’s central coast for more than 14,000 years - long before this place was called British Columbia.
Then came smallpox and influenza, which reduced the population from more than 10,000 to just 200.
Now a new Big House and land-based healing centre mark a remarkable moment for the Heiltsuk people.
We visited Heiltsuk territory to learn more.
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[@concertinamadrigals4058]

As a mixed-heritage, non-Status FN, I've been feeling disconnected from my ancestry, and I'm appreciative of videos like this one, helping me become aware of who I am, and where I come from...

[@kelliriggs-briscoe6302]

No words can express the joy and happiness as an Indigenous Canadian with open eyes and heart how the Heilsuk Nation have made with the launch of the Big House and the construction of the healing center. Absolutely blessed is this culture and a fine example of leading the way for other Indigenous people of Canada to reclaim their identity. I am very proud to be part Indigenous and live in British Columbia on its coast where I have been born an raised and to support the cultural and Environmenal Stewardshio of this incredible First Nations within the Great Bear Rainforest the last Coastal Temporate one on the planet. I am very proud to be and privileged to be a Canadian and living on and amongst First Nations Indigenous British Columbia's and on their unceded Territorial traditional lands. This is a renaissance of the greatest going on with Indigenous Communities in Canada and nothing can stop us. All my relations Kelli Riggs Briscoe