​​​​​​Summer is here, and we hope everyone who can will make time to enjoy the extra sunlight and the outdoors in general! You've probably noticed how great you feel when you spend time in nature. That's because the wholistic, interconnected, spiritual, and sacred relationship First Nations people have with the land plays a major part in helping us maintain our physical, spiritual, and mental health.

Connection to land is a central determinant of the health and well-being of First Nations people. Since time immemorial, we have nurtured our spirits and found healing, sustenance, peace, and much more by connecting to our lands and waters.

To honour and encourage our connections with the land and our territories, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) will be running a summer initiative on social media for First Nations people living in British Columbia (BC). ​

To participate, just send photos of yourself or your friends and loved ones enjoying summer on the lands and waters to cmo.office@fnha.ca with the subject line “Summer on the Land." Tell us a bit about what's happening in each photo, plus the names and Nations of the people in it. We will share many of these photos on our social media platforms, and do random draws for those participating.

If your name is among those drawn throughout the summer, you will receive a $25 gift certificate via email. We would love to see traditional and cultural activities, like people canoeing, camping, fishing, hunting, making dry meat, smoking / canning salmon, picking berries, canning jams and jellies, fishing, dancing or drumming at powwows, or attending outdoor cultural events. We're also happy to receive photos of people just being active, e.g., swimming in a lake or walking anywhere in BC.

“Being in the mountains, being at the lake, being on the canoe. These are all ways our people have healed over the last hundreds of years."  ~ Mavis Pierre, Katzie Nation​