Why the Gwa’sala and ‘Nakwaxda’xw people give life and meaning to the word ‘resilience’

This is a story of defiance of seemingly impossible odds and of overcoming the worst of human experiences, of courage, resilience, and determination. It is a story of the triumph of culture over colonization, hope over great hardship, and love over immense loss.

Former elected chief of the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw, Paddy Walkus: 'Our values and teachings are based on our sacred connection to our lands and waters, those traditional lands that we were forcibly removed from. Now we are rebuilding our people’s future upon those values and teachings and that sacred connection.'Handout photograph

Feature

BY KATHERINE PALMER GORDON

June 29, 2023

Accessible only by water, Takush Harbour, in remote Smith Inlet, lies 60-odd kilometres northeast of Port Hardy, B.C., and as the raven flies some 390 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. In 1950, Paddy Walkus was born in the tiny Gwa’sala village ofT’a̱kus, nestled on th...

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