Close
Email Us
The Warrior program began in the summer of 2015 in the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ community of Hitacu on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Today the program model is hosted in several Nuu-chah-nulth communities, weaving traditional and mainstream leadership and wellness teachings and practices together on the land to strengthen the connections, capability, cultural pride and confidence of young men. It has come to teach survival in three ways: wilderness survival skills if you get lost in the woods; how to survive and lead in emergency situations; and strategies to survive life in today’s society.
Provide
Youth Warriors gain the skills and experience to provide for themselves, one another, their families, and communities. We work together to build healing cabins, strengthen food security, and create culturally meaningful access to remote areas in our traditional territories (ḥaḥuułʔi).
Learn More Learn More
Protect
(Re)invigorating our traditional foods, medicines, language, and cultures protects our Nuu-chah-nulth ways of life. When we connect to our territories through inspiring land-based experiences, we deepen our care for the land, water, air, and all the beings who have been alongside our Ancestors throughout millenia. It is this care that guides us as Guardians and stewards and leads us towards ‘doing something for those who have yet to arrive’ (ʔuuʔatupniš mamuuk wikyuuʔi hinumł)
Learn More Learn More
Prepare
In an ever changing world, it can make all the difference to feel strongly rooted in our skill sets, and connected with a supportive community who help one another learn, grow, and prepare for the future. With a changing climate, natural disasters, and the risk of accidents, it is also essential to have Warriors in the village who know how to lead in emergency situations. Through hands-on training events, we help youth to take action, sharpen our skills, and step into leadership roles on our individual and shared life-paths.
Learn More Learn More
Hear the impact of this model
Projects

Building Projects: Smokehouses, sheltered firepits, healing cabins and more

Youth leaders work together with skilled carpenters to address the needs and requests of each Nation. These construction projects provide for community, while offering a place to share and connect with each other across Nuu-chah-nulth territories.

Restoring Nuu-chah-nulth Seafood Gardens

Young Warriors come together to (re)build clam gardens, harvest seafoods, learn food preservation techniques, and distribute coastal foods. This project is an effort to establish community driven conservation and food sovereignty programs that will feed coastal Nations for generations to come, and contribute to building resilient coastal communities.

Community Mapping Project

In collaboration with the Indigenous-led Westcoast Stewardship Corridor, the IISAAK Olam Foundation, and Dr. Chris Bone (UVIC), youth leaders from Huu-ay-aht and Tla-o-qui-aht are each bringing their communities together to share stories and record cultural knowledge of their territories. We are creating living maps (physical & digital), where knowledge can be safely recorded by the Nation as a way to preserve oral histories and identify connections to Place.

Indigenous Coastal Safety Project with Parks Canada

We are working with Parks Canada in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve to create and implement a brand new Indigenous-led coastal safety program here in Clayoquot Sound. Our efforts aim to address public and community safety around coastal hazards, but also develop educational opportunities for park visitors to learn what land they are on, and recognize Indigenous stewardship since time immemorial.

Sacred Circles Drivers Licensing Initiative

At the age of 16, learning how to drive safely can feel unattainable for many Indigenous youth. We are faced with a row of barriers - from access to a working vehicle, a willing mentor, government issued ID, or even opportunity to practice driving where there are intersections, curbs, and stop signs. To address this disproportion of services, we now work with ICBC so that ID cards, driving lessons, mock signage, and driving tests are all brought to remote villages.
Shape
Your Own
Warrior
Program
Request access to The Warrior Toolkit by sending the Warrior Support Team a message! We’d love to connect with you and learn how we can best support the work you are already doing. The Warrior Toolkit is a free, online information hub designed to provide helpful resources that (re)connect youth back to the land safely.