Canada: How gardening is helping Haízaqv (Heiltsuk) Nation cope with COVID-19
Clam gardens are another example of Haí?zaqv people gardening for millennia.
By Odette Auger
APTN News
Sept 11, 2020
Excerpt:
“This morning I went and did a big veggie pull from the community garden to drop off at Elders’ doors.”
In her role with QPS, Housty has been teaching gardening classes throughout the pandemic.
“The early part of the pandemic was a wake-up call about the importance of being self-reliant in case COVID or other crises caused significant disruption,” she says.
“Knowing that the coming weeks are uncertain and that our ability to quickly curb community spread will set the tone for the winter months, I’m just grateful that I’ve been filling my pantry with preserved foods our family grew — that we have fall and winter crops in the ground now — and that we’re actively saving seeds for next year.”
Since 2013, the community has been working to build up programs that support food sovereignty.
Haí?zaqv Territory is on the outer central coast of B.C. It stretches from the edge of Vancouver Island, out through all the other coastal islands into the open ocean. Around 120 years ago, Haí?zaqv people gathered in the village of Bella Bella.
“The few Haí?zaqv people (around 1 per cent) who didn’t succumb to influenza and smallpox banded together here. We are the descendants of those who survived epidemics,”Housty explains.
