It’s called ʔuukʷinkpanač and it means ‘walking in togetherness’.
Launched by the Vancouver Island West Coast Primary Care Initiative Health Care Society, ʔuukʷinkpanač promises to deliver services that include traditional healing and wellness options for the First Nations peoples of the Clayoquot Sound region.
The Vancouver Island West Coast PCI Health Society launched its new logo, website and traditional name in December 2024. According to their news released dated Dec. 16, ʔuukʷinkpanač is a non-profit organization made up of health care providers including physicians, registered nurses, mental health supports, and traditional wellness supports. It is funded by the B.C. Ministry of Health and the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA).
The new society’s mandate is to collaborate with all the service providers available to meet the needs of the people, “including all First Nation, Metis and Inuit peoples residing in (or who are able to access) the First Nations communities.”
It is a model of health care that blends old ways with modern medicine.
“Uuštukyuu were the primary health care in this territory since time immemorial,” said Ahousaht elder Tyee Tsuyuuk, Dave Frank. “The Indian Act put us to sleep, and we have woken to a new health service landscape. We are here now to shake hands with each other’s medicines and work together.”
ʔuukʷinkpanač works through a partnership agreement with the Uut Uuštukyuu Society, which, according to the December news release, works to re-centre and revitalize Indigenous models of medicine.
Uut Uuštukyuu Society has been quietly operating in Clayoquot Sound for more than a year, offering traditional brushings and training for western practitioners on the legitimacy of Indigenous medicine. It brings together cultural healers offering plant-based medicine, ceremony and healing practices to the people. According to their website, Uuštukyuu work closely with one another and with many organizations, both within First Nations and the existing Canadian healthcare system.
According to Suzanne Williams, West Coast PCI director of operations, there will be ʔuukʷinkpanač services offered in the Clayoquot Sound Region.
“As of this time (January 7, 2024) the primary health care centres are still in progress in terms of setup and onboarding team members,” she stated in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Still in its startup phase, ʔuukwinkpanač will serve the people of ʕaaḥuusʔatḥ (Ahousaht), ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht), ḥiškʷiiʔatḥ (Hesquiaht), tukʷaaʔatḥ (Toquaht), yuułuʔiłʔatḥ (Yuucluthaht).
Williams expects there will be a grand opening in the Spring of 2025, following their recruitment process.
For more information, visit the website www.westcoastpci.ca