We are thrilled to announce that Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) Coastal Community of Care have won a 2023 BC Quality Award in the “Coping with Transition from Life” category for their work towards providing high-quality, culturally safe palliative care to community members at any level and point in the care continuum.
Indigenous peoples experience various systemic barriers when accessing palliative care such as inadequate care coordination, poor transitions between health care settings, and limited access to palliative care services in First Nations communities.
Two-Eyed Seeing is the foundation of the Indigenous Palliative Care Projects (IPCP), a partnership to improve palliative care services for and with Indigenous peoples in the Coastal Community of Care region. The majority of these projects were pursued by TWN, in partnership with VCH’s North Shore Palliative Care team.
Some of the ways the IPCP worked to overcome these barriers with TWN members included developing policies and procedures to promote safe discharges of palliative care patients from hospital as well as defining pathways for TWN members transitioning to hospital for palliative care, while being medically, culturally, and spiritually supported.
As Andrea Aleck, Director of TWN’s Health and Wellness department, shared: “We hear the voices of our ancestors and Elders, and are guided by the knowledge keepers to reclaim what is rightfully ours as Tsleil-Wautt people. It is with this spiritual guidance and ancestral presence that we strive to strengthen our partnership, whilst ensuring that our palliative care services are culturally and spiritually informed by our Indigenous ways of knowing and being.”
Tsleil-Waututh Nation and VCH collaborated to develop videos of traditional healing songs, with Elders sharing traditional knowledge about the final journey to “Go Home,” as well as brochures outlining palliative care that reflect Tsleil-Waututh ways of knowing and being.
These projects expand the level of culturally appropriate palliative resources that can be offered to patients in different settings, including hospital and hospice. The IPCP facilitates ongoing education and knowledge sharing between VCH and different Nation health teams on topics including serious illness conversations, cultural safety, traditional protocols, and palliative care.
Photo: Leonie Streeter (TWN), Sierra Roberts (VCH), Dr. Anis Lakha (VCH), and Andrea Aleck (TWN) receiving the Quality Awards at the Ceremony on June 6, 2023 at the Hyatt.
səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) has created a new data dashboard to visualize water quality information from across səlilwət (Burrard Inlet). Contamination has left səlilwət largely unable to support səlilwətaɬ needs and ways of life. Around 700 contaminants have been detected in the Inlet, posing risks to shared water values, including human consumption of seafood, cultural practices, recreation, aquatic life, and wildlife.
On July 8, 2026, Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) filed a judicial review to overturn the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s (VFPA) permit allowing the VFPA to dredge tsa-ah-nah (Second Narrows area) of səlilwət (Burrard Inlet).
Join us at the FIFA Fan Festival™ from June 11 to July 19, 2026, at Hastings Park in Vancouver. səlilwətaɬ Members and staff will be on site educating visitors from all around the world about our rich history, culture, lands, and waters.
səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) partnered with the Royal Netherlands Football Association to provide a week-long coaching program for six soccer coaches from Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Squamish Nation.
