The Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) community has been coming together to create a vision for the future.

That vision was spelled out following two-days in mid-February that saw dozens of members coming together for a comprehensive community planning (CCP) workshop.

“As strong and healthy descendents of Snaw-naw-as, caretakers of the land; through pride, self-determination, respect and great governance and leadership the Snaw-naw-as First Nation empowers its membership to have a protected and enriched cultural identity, a strong social well being, and the individual and collective prosperity. As a strong and growing nation our future generations with compassion, confidence and self esteem; we carry forward our ancestral knowledge in pursuit of higher education, sustainable economic development and a clean and protected environment."

Entitled Planning for the Future, the workshop included an introduction to the CCP process, group exercises and presentations as well as creating a vision statement. The Nation’s two CCP coordinators, Sarah Sampson and Lawrence Mitchell, arranged the workshop with the assistance of Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council’s manager of business development Gary Reith and consultant Eric Blueshke.

Sampson and Mitchell received their own introduction to CCP last year when they attended a BC-wide workshop on the subject at Tsleil-Waututh that was organized by NmTC and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

“We gained the necessary understanding about the background, the benefits, core concepts and best practices,” Mitchell said. “We also learned how to produce more effective communications.”

That came in handy for February’s workshop as well as for the community surveys, forums and other activities the two CCP coordinators have been holding since last year.

Mitchell said of the recent workshop: “There was a good turnout, a huge amount of data collected, and much appreciated guidance in where we should focus our resources throughout the entire CCP process.”