What’s up at PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱
Finished the school year with a celebration!
Our summer kicked off with a celebration of all the students’ hard work at the PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ garden over the school year. Students from ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱ Tribal School, W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Secondary School, and W̱SÁNEĆ College were invited to our ĆENQALES: W̱ILṈEW̱ SȻÁĆEL SḴÁPEȽ (Indigenous Peoples Day Gathering) to enjoy all of the fruits, flowers, and friends the garden has to offer. Michells Farm donated 5 flats of strawberries for this event; it was great seeing the fruit stained faces of the students as they have been eagerly anticipating strawberry season all year. We are very thankful for all of effort and care the students have shown over the school year to help support PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱, their community, and the environment!
Off to Girona
Kyle Clark
During the summer, members of the PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ team (Judith Lyn Arney, Sarah Jim, and Kyle Clarke) were invited to attend and speak at the 2024 Living Knowledge Conference in Girona, Spain! Our team learned about various restoration efforts and social wellbeing initiatives from around the world. The PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ team shared about Relational Restoration and the work we do throughout the W̱SÁNEĆ Homelands. Kyle also presented with the Living Lab team about the development and implementation of year-round Ecostewardship Camps for lək̓ʷəŋən Youth. While in Girona we also took in the sights, met up with close friends and family, and ate good food. Thank you to the community in Girona for being great hosts, we look forward to strengthening the relationships we have built during our time there.
Restoring SṈIDȻEȽ
Throughout the summer our team was diligently working to maintain and steward SṈIDȻEȽ. Summer is the busiest time for our restoration team due to the vigorous growth that comes with the added sunlight! Our efforts were supported by volunteer days and Learning on the Land workshops from all different kinds of groups; we couldn’t support SṈIDȻEȽ in the way we do without help from the larger community.
Preparing for the new school year!
School is back in session, and we are ramping up for another year full of garden and restoration fun! Our team has been hard at work planning and organizing the upcoming workshops for the PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ Native Plant & Garden Program as well as the Restoration stream for WŚANEĆ School Board students. Each year we build off past successes, and this year will be the best year yet. The students are eagerly awaiting their return to the garden and restoration sites! We can’t wait to kick off another wonderful year of learning and helping strengthen our community.