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Overview

Vancouver Island is home to 50 First Nations communities that make up three distinct cultural families: Coast Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth and Kwakwaka'wakw, who have resided here since time immemorial. Vancouver Island's First Nations are diverse, with distinct culture and traditions, cultural knowledge and practices, and languages across the region. First Nations communities are different in size and accessibility, have varying capacities to engage, and have adopted varying mixes of western and traditional health care in their wellness strategies.

The majority of Coast Salish communities are located between the southern tip of Vancouver Island and Qualicum Beach facing eastward towards the Salish Sea. Two communities are located further north, these being Homalco and Klahoose First Nations, which have their traditional territories off the coast of Campbell River, BC and Bute Inlet. Their languages include several distinct dialects: Northern Salish (Comox, Pentlatch, Sechelt), Central Salish (Squamish, HUL'QUMI'NUM or Halkomelem), Northern Straits (SENĆOŦEN, Sooke, LEKWUNGEN), and Clallam (or Klallum).

It has always been important for Coast Salish people to 'Work together as One'; this value is commonly known as 'Nuts'amaatstuhw kwthun syaays' and reflects their beliefs around the importance of relationships. Coast Salish worldview also recognizes the interconnectedness and spirit within all living things including the relationship to the land, waterways, ocean and air, as well as all plants and animals.

The Nuučaan̓ uł (Nuu-chah-nulth), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, translates as “all along the mountains and sea." The ha'hulthi (Chiefly territories) of the Nuučaan̓ uł First Nations, or tribes, stretch along approximately 300 kilometres of the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island, from Brooks Peninsula in the north to Point-no-Point in the south, and includes inland regions.

Although Nuučaan̓ uł people share traditions, languages and many aspects of culture, they are divided into Chiefly families and Nations. Each Nation includes several local groups governed around a T'ayii Hawił (hereditary Chief), and each live off the resources provided within their ha'houlthee (traditional territory).

In the Nuučaan̓ uł worldview, it is unnatural, and equivalent to death and destruction, for any person to be isolated from family or community. Relationships are used as a way to strengthen community, through the sharing and observance of teachings. One learns how to behave, to be humble, to take teachings in and outside of family; they learn about their relationship with the Creator “Naas," all of Nature and the Universe: the power of the ocean, the sun and the moon, all the animals of land and sea and sky.

The Kwakwaka'wakw people, also referred to as the Kwak'wala speaking people, live on the Northern coastal area of Vancouver Island and on the coast of the mainland of British Columbia. h) The languages of the Kwakwaka'wakw family are Kwak'wala, Tlatlasikwala, Gut'sa, Lik'wala, and 'Nak'wala. The languages hold a sacredness that is fundamental to identity and ways of being.

'NAMWAYUT: WE ARE ALL ONE: The Kwakwaka'wakw people are a very complex and wholistic people. Important ways of doing and being are embedded in relationships to each other, the land and how everything and everyone are connected. It is also important to know what village, tribe, family one comes from and what songs, dances, names each individual holds. Teachings are passed down from generation to generation through custom laws, each individual is responsible to share the knowledge they carry.

The First Nations in the Vancouver Island region have inherent responsibilities for their citizens regardless of residency, as well as other First Nations and other guests who reside in their ancestral homelands. Similarly, other Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples who visit or reside in these homelands have a responsibility to respect and acknowledge the traditional territories, laws and customs of the Vancouver Island First Nations.​

What We Do

Planning and Development Team

​The Vancouver Regional Planning and Development Team is responsible for supporting communities and health leaders with planning initiatives, including: 

• Collaborating with the FNHA Community Development team in supporting community health and wellness planning.
• Multi-year strategic planning; outlining community priorities and goals, and creating a clear roadmap to achieve these.
• Organizational-level work planning, to ensure day-to-day operations run smoothly.
• Project-specific work planning, to help provide a clear pathway to meet project deadlines and objectives.
• Project management advice and support.
• Coordinating potential partnerships, to help meet community needs.
• Providing support with financial reporting, or advice on potential funding opportunities. 

If your community needs help with any of the above services, please reach out to PlanningVI@fnha.ca and someone from our planning team will be in touch shortly.

Mental Health and Wellness (MHW) and Toxic Drug Response (TDR) Team

Our teams provide a wide range of services to support community members both on reserve and in urban settings.

Services are available upon community invitation and/or request and include: 

Mental Health and Wellness Resources:

• Assistance connecting to mental health providers
• Traditional/cultural support
• Treatment navigation 

Workshops:

• Development, facilitation, or co-facilitation
• Topics include lateral violence to kindness, self-care, grief and loss, treatment pathways, Not Just Naloxone, and more 

Clinical Support:

• Support for sharing circles and debriefs 

Capacity Building:

• Opportunities for community staff and partners 

Crisis/Emergency Support:

• Mental health and cultural supports, as defined by the community 

Harm Reduction Education:

• Naloxone training and other harm reduction education 

Child and Youth Specific Supports 

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Elder Specific Supports

Regional Service Links:

• Point of contact for connections to other regional services and supports 

Teams:

• Hub Clinicians
• Outreach Clinicians
• Social Workers/Wellness Navigators
• Child and Youth Wellness Coordinators
• Regional Addictions Specialists
• Harm Reduction Educators
• MHW Team Lead
• Regional MHW and TDR Manager 

If your community needs help with any of the above services, please reach out to VI.MHW2@fnha.ca and someone from our team will be in touch shortly. 

Maternal Child and Family Health Team 

Kwakwaka'wakw Maternal Child and Family Health Collaborative Program

• Supports families in Kwakwaka'wakw Territory (Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Namgis, rural areas)
• Provides midwifery care, health coaching, and family wellness care nursing
• Aims for seamless access to prenatal, birth, and postpartum care
• Assists with social determinants of health (housing, transportation, benefits, financial support, advocacy)
• Health coach available in Campbell River for both visiting and local families 

Aboriginal Head Start on Reserve Advisors (AHSOR)

• Two advisors support indigenous childcare, preschool, and Head Start programs on-reserve
• Assist with FNHA AHSOR funding, Ministry of Education and Child Care funding, and program management
• Provide education on AHSOR Programs (AHSOR 101) and PEP evaluation 

Maternal Child and Family Health (MCFH) Program

• Regional Specialist helps with MCFH and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder program development
• Certified lactation consultant offering support for infant feeding and early child development
• Program Coordinator supports Tseycum and Beecher Bay community programs 

Diabetes Regional Strategy

• Developing a regional strategy for diabetes
• Indigenous Educator provides community education and support on diabetes 

If your community needs help with any of the above services, please reach out to VI.MCFH@fnha.ca and someone from our team will be in touch shortly.

Geography

The territorial land base of the Vancouver Island Region, as defined by BC Regional Health Authority boundaries is 56,292 km squared, 6.1% of the total provincial land base. For the purposes of this profile, the administrative geographic boundaries of the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) are used but there are First Nations communities included in the Vancouver Island Health Region for First Nations health planning purposes that may lie outside these geographic boundaries. 

Population

The table below provides estimates of the First Nations population living in the Vancouver Island Region using different data sources, including the 2011 Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC)'s Indian Registry, the 2006 Census and the 2011 Census (see Sidebar for more information on these data sources). According to INAC 2011 data, the population registered to BC First Nations in Vancouver Island Region is close to 31,000, representing almost one quarter (23.2%) of the population registered to BC First Nations.

​First Nations Communities

Documents and resources

• Regional Newsletter Archive​
• Regional Health and Wellness Plan​
• Vancouver Island Partnership Acco​rd​ (2016)
  
• Vancouver Island Partnership Accord (2022)