June 13, 2024
The 2024 Land Awards
On June 13, 2024 REFBC welcomed almost 250 guests to the gala at Arras Banquet & Event Space in Vancouver.
“We’re honoured to celebrate remarkable leaders and organizations forging better relationships between lands, waters, and people,” said Mark Gifford, CEO of REFBC. “By sharing success stories from across BC, we hope to build bridges and inspire lasting change. We commend all the winners and finalists for their leadership.”
Individual Winners
Land Champion
Winner
Xtli’li’ye Lydia Hwitsum
Lydia Hwitsum has advocated for Indigenous and human rights locally, nationally, and internationally. Lydia is from the Quw’utsun Nation and served 10 years as elected chief of the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island.
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She has 30 years of experience in Indigenous leadership positions and has served the community in many capacities. Currently, Lydia is Co-chair of the BC-First Nations Water Table, Co-commissioner of the First Nations Water Caucus, a member of the Watershed Security Fund Joint Executive, a BC Treaty Commissioner, and a Director for the BC First Nations Justice Council. A bridge-builder, she previously co-chaired the Cowichan Watershed Board, a unique partnership between First Nations and local governments that promotes collaborative stewardship of the Cowichan and Koksilah watersheds. Lydia also sat on the Indigenous Leaders Advisory Circle for the Healthy Watersheds Initiative. She speaks the Hul’q’umi’num’ language and is guided by Cowichan values and teachings.
Read More on the Tyee
Emerging Leader
Winner
Sulatiye’ Maiya Modeste
Maiya Modeste is the P’hwulhp (Garry Oak) Restoration Project Coordinator for the Stqeeye’ Learning Society. Stqeeye’ is an Indigenous-led organization undertaking land restoration and education around Xwaaqw’um, a Quw’utsun village site on Saltspring Island.
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Maiya’s work to revitalize once-thriving Indigenous food systems is guided by traditional teachings and Indigenous ways of knowing and being. A gifted speaker, she is passionate about educating Indigenous youth about traditional foods, such as Speenhw (camas), and hopes to feed Elders traditional meals. Maiya also sits on the Board of Directors for the Quw’utsun’ Cultural Connections Society.
Read More on the Tyee
Project Winners
Land Use & Conservation
Winner
ṮEṮÁĆES Revitalization Project
(W̱SÁNEĆ School Board)
The ṮEṮÁĆES Revitalization Project has supported the reconnection of W̱SÁNEĆ people with their homelands in the southernmost Gulf Islands. These islands are known as ṮEṮÁĆES — meaning “Relatives of the Deep” — in the SENĆOŦEN language.
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Project partners include the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council, Southern Gulf Islands Community Resources Centre, South Pender Historical Society, University of Victoria Living Lab Project, and Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Four films featuring Elders have been created. These are shown to students at the tribal school and have inspired Islanders to get involved in Reconcili-Action initiatives.
Read More on the Tyee
Finalists
Q̓welq̓welústen/Mount Meager Landslide Restoration
Yun Ghunli (Defenders of the Land)
Nature-Based Solutions Foundation
IPCA Conservation Financing for Endangered Ecosystems
Fresh Water
Winner
Kus-kus-sum: Unpave Paradise
(Comox Valley Project Watershed Society)
Kus-kus-sum is a former sawmill site in the K’ómoks Estuary that’s become a leading example of collaboration and reconciliation. In partnership with the K’ómoks First Nation and City of Courtenay, Project Watershed has ripped out steel and concrete to restore a tidal marsh.
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Once restoration is complete, the property will be returned to the K’ómoks First Nation and protected by a conservation covenant. The First Nation gave the name Kus-kus-sum (meaning “slippery” in Ayajuthem) to the site in remembrance of an ancient village.
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Finalists
Kingfisher Interpretive Centre Society
Conservation Through Education
Columbia Basin Water Monitoring Framework
Enhancing Estuary Resilience: An Innovative Approach to Sustaining Fish and Fish Habitat in a Changing Climate
Watershed Watch Salmon Society
Connected Waters: Working Together for a Resilient Floodplain
Built Environment
Winner
Esḵéḵxwi7ch tl’a Sp’áḵw’us Place
(NUQO Modular & Squamish Nation)
Esḵéḵxwi7ch tl’a Sp’áḵw’us means “Gathering Place of the Eagles” in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim. Located at Siyich’em, the 27-unit supportive housing development is a key step toward the Squamish Nation’s goal of housing every Squamish person within a generation.
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The complex was built quickly using sustainable construction methods, prioritizes accessibility, and provides affordable rental homes to Squamish Nation members — particularly vulnerable women and children. Managed by Hiy̓ám̓ Housing, it’s energy efficient and its construction provided jobs and training to members of the Nation.
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Finalists
Victoria handyDART Centre
Managing Natural Assets: Handbook for Local Governments
Empower Me
Pembina Institute, BC Non-Profit Housing Corporation,City of Vancouver & Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation
Reframed Initiative and Lab
Food Sovereignty
Winner
Nawalakw Community Farm
(Nawalakw)
Nawalakw is a social venture that creates presence and environmental stewardship in Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw territory — while reinvigorating the language and culture. Its name means “supernatural” in Kwak̓wala.
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The Nawalakw Food Security Program aims to empower Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw communities through access and control over healthy foods based on their cultural values. The Nawalakw Garden — located on ’Namgis land in remote Alert Bay — feeds Elders, provides seasonal jobs for youth, and serves as a place of training, mentorship, and healing.
Read More on the Tyee
Finalists
sc̓e:ɬxʷəy̓əm/Salmon River – Foodlands Corridor Restoration Program
Salish Sea Regenerative Farm Society
Salish Sea Regenerative Farm
Real Estate
Winner
lelǝḿ
(Musqueam Indian Band & Musqueam Capital Corporation)
lelǝḿ is a master-planned community being developed on Musqueam-owned land at the entrance to UBC Vancouver.
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Community engagement with Musqueam members and area residents informs the mixed-use development — which integrates Musqueam art and culture as well as district energy and rainwater gardens. lelǝḿ features market and non-market housing, a community centre, daycare, wetland, and forest paths, and has its own community events.
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Finalists
Water and Land Sustainability Issues Webinar Series
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Campaign
Advancing Excellence Initiative
Judges
Thank you to our esteemed judges for 2024.
Individual Awards
Jim McCaughan
Ramona Faust
Roberta Stewart
Land Use and Conservation
Lina Azeez
Gwen Bridge
Deborah Curran
Curtis Rattray – Nenh glunyadz
Jesse Stoeppler
Chair: Leslie Dickie, Governor
Staff: Jen McCaffrey, Grants Program Manager
Fresh Water
Oliver Brandeis
Deana Machin
Anna Warwick Sears
Xsaxgyoo – Gordon Sterritt
Kristen Walters
Chair: Mavis Underwood, Tiwenomot, Governor
Staff: Jennifer Archer, Watershed Security Senior Projects Specialist
Built Environment
Cara Basil
Djaka Blais
Cheeying Ho
Colin Mbugua
Priyanka Roy Chakrabarti
Chair: Ahmed Omran, Governor
Staff: Deanna Wing, Grants Program Manager
Food Sovereignty
Jacob Beaton
Robynne Edgar
Kevin Huang 黃儀軒
Darcy Smith
Jared Qwustenuxun Williams
Chair: Toni Boot, Governor
Staff: Hedy Rubin, Grants Program Manager
Real Estate
Lyndi Ainsworth
Jill Atkey
Zoe Brook
Erica Kavanaugh
Aaron Pete
Chair: Anthony Bastiaanssen, Governor
Staff: Stephen Hui, Communications Manager
Presenters
Emcee
Angela Sterritt Lu Algaxit Ts’im Xsblist
Angela Sterritt is an award-winning investigative journalist and national bestselling author from the Wilp Wiik’aax of the Gitanmaax community within the Gitxsan Nation on her dad’s side and from Bell Island, NL, on her maternal side.
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Sterritt worked as a television, radio, and digital journalist at CBC for more than a decade. She hosted the award-winning CBC original podcast Land Back. Her book Unbroken (Greystone Books), a work that is part memoir and part investigation into the murders and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls, became an instant national bestseller in 2023. Unbroken was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, one of Canada’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes. It was also a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for the best nonfiction book in Canada.
Poet
’Cúagilákv Jess Housty
’Cúagilákv (Jess Housty) is a Haíɫzaqv parent, writer, and land-based educator from the community of Bella Bella, BC. They live in their unceded ancestral homelands, where they work in community building, food sovereignty, and leadership development. Housty is the author of a debut poetry collection, Crushed Wild Mint (Nightwood Editions), and a collection of essays forthcoming from Magic Canoe Press.
Artist
K.C. Hall
K.C. Hall was born in Bella Bella, in Heiltsuk Nation territory, on the central coast of BC. He belongs to the House of Wakas and descends from noted Heiltsuk artist Chief Robert Bell. His work blends graffiti art with traditional formline and Heiltsuk language and meaning to create a style of his own.
Musical Guest
Brejera
Brejera is a Brazilian music ensemble that plays choro, samba, forró, baião, and other authentic Brazilian styles of music. The group has been active for over a decade and is composed of Mario Silva (seven-string guitar, vocals), Bruno Matos (pandeiro), Trevor Murray (cavaquinho), and Tobias Soley (clarinet, percussion).
Gala
Thanks to
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