North Shore

TWN offers a variety of community services and programs for members, both on- and off-reserve. These are all to engage in the community and shared traditions.

Income Assistance
We house training, employment and income assistance within our education program. By clustering our services together, we can offer people more opportunities―education, individual learning plans for each person, life skills to pursue goals, and more―as people engage in an educational journey. We have income assistance in our computer lab to give clients better access to tools and resources. We also have a referral system to support people with a continuum of service delivery, from literacy to education, training, skill development and employment. We have assessment tools so we know what each person’s interests, skills and goals are, and can better address any barriers.

Culture & Language
We have incorporated traditional education, language, and culture into our childcare, in response to what our community, leadership, and parents requested, to raise awareness from an early age. We have traditional art, drumming, singing and field trips in the Aboriginal Head Start Program, plus opportunities for Elders and children to interact. Our Tsleil-Waututh Language Program is helping to revitalize our Hunq’eme’nem language and has been recognized as a best practice by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. With no living fluent speakers, we used remaining records, documentation, and linguistic resources for the Downriver Hunq’eme’nem/Hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, while also requesting assistance from Vancouver Island speakers (who call the language Həl̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ rather than Hunq’eme’nem). For more information on this program, please view the website!

Community Centre
Our Tsleil-Waututh Community Centre has a full gymnasium, hall and kitchen, with space for sporting events, community gatherings, meetings and other special occasions. We also rent space in the centre to non-Tsleil-Waututh individuals, groups and organizations. If you have any questions about this Centre, please call Michael Wilson at 604-990-5573, or email him at mwilson@twnation.ca

Food Fish
We hold annual ceremonial salmon and crab fisheries for the community, based on seasonal run sizes and conservation measures. We start giving fresh salmon to our Elders and continue distributing until the fish is gone. We use the same approach for any elk hunt, prawns, crab and halibut. We distribute fresh fish in season, as well as canned, smoked or frozen fish during winter months. Our goal for the food fish program is to increase TWN’s access to all seafood species traditionally harvested in our territory.