![]() ![]() The project led to a two-year long apprenticeship with Sutherland, who taught her how to create her own designs and carve paddles. “I didn’t want to stop carving after that,” Williams said. It was the first time Williams was exposed to the Nuu-chah-nulth style of carving, and from that moment on, she was hooked. Along with being provided with career counseling, First Aid training, and business development programs, the Eagle Project led youth through the process of carving a totem pole under the instruction of master carver Moy Sutherland Jr. In an attempt to learn more about her culture, Williams became involved with the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, where she was introduced to the Eagle Project in 2015. “There wasn’t enough interest in that class,” she said. ![]() She recalled applying for a class about the history of First Nations peoples on Vancouver Island in Grade 12, but it was cancelled. In high school, Williams said there were no Indigenous teachers at Mount Douglas Secondary. She was raised by “amazing” foster parents, but Williams said they weren’t Nuu-chah-nulth and were unable to “teach her anything about her culture.” As a teenager, Peter dealt with the loss of her own mother. ![]() Williams’ mother, Rodrina Peter, shared what she knew by teaching Williams the basics of the Nuu-chah-nulth language, but had connection issues of her own. ![]() “It’s so hard to connect back to your roots when there’s no one there to teach you.” “I always felt like there was something missing,” she said. Without anyone around to teach her about her culture, she felt disconnected from herself. Growing up in the city, away from her Nuu-chah-nulth and Kwakwaka’wakw homelands, Joslyn Williams struggled to understand her own identity. Happy Birthday Regional District of Mount Waddingtonīy Melissa Renwick, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter HA-SHILTH-SA. ![]()
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