Malahat First Nation

Malahat First Nation is a Coast Salish First Nations community of W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich People) representing approximately 350 members^[1] with two reserve lands located on the western shore of Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The Malahat First Nation is one of many nations within the Coastal Salish group that live on their traditional lands. The Coastal Salish are Indigenous to the Northwest mainland, coast, and islands. The Malahat First Nation is a member nation of the Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council and was the ninth First Nation in Canada to be certified by the First Nations Financial Management Board. The ancestral languages of Malahat Nation are Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓ and SENĆOŦEN . The Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓ or Halkomelem language is spoken in Washington State and British Columbia and is within the Coastal Salish language family. Currently it is being revitalized, as it is mainly spoken by elders in the community.^[2] The Chief of Malahat Nation is George Harry. George served on the council for four years before being elected as Chief on June 10, 2019.

The Malahat Nation inhabits land rich in natural resources and have throughout history and modern day made efforts to restore depleted species. Aside from their spiritual backgrounds supporting the respect of nature, many of their goals for their community involve strengthening their resources after years of overfishing, and being settled in the 18th through 20th centuries. They also participate in activism surrounding such environmental issues, as well as social issues. As with other Indigenous Canadian peoples and Nations, residential schools have been surging in new information and new initiatives to better understand and combat the effects. This particular community has also been hit hard during COVID-19, but have responded with health initiatives as well as economic driven solutions to the issues caused by COVID-19.