Northern Region | Haida Gwaii Health | Old Masset

Niislaa Naay Healing House and its Tawlang ga Tlaayds (Helping Families) program is located in Old Masset on Haida Gwaii’s northern coast and supports expecting Indigenous families and

children up to six years old through a holistic mix of services, from perinatal outreach and certified lactation consulting to toddler feeding groups, weekly community lunches, Xaad Kil story time, and Haida singing and dancing gatherings. Guided by Haida values such as Yahgudaang (Respect), Gin waadluwan gud ahl kwaagidang (Everything Depends on Everything Else), Tll’yahda (Make It Right), and Ahl kyaanang tlagaang (To Ask First), the initiative nurtures physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being while reinforcing the connections to language, land, culture, and community.

We are providing support to the community on how they would like to deliver and adapt the Family Spirit Program. Within this year we provided the Ages and Stages 3 & SE2 Questionnaire Train the Trainer on May 26-30, 2025, in Vancouver. The training provides each regional advisor to train Health Educators, Early Childhood Educators and Families to use the screening tool to pinpoint the ages and stages of Development of the children and provide support with those who require extra support within the 156 AHSOR Programs Provincial Wide. We opened the invitation to the Family Spirit Pilot Programs Health Educators to join the training to utilize in the FS Home visiting program. For our Northern Region, the Niislaa Naay Healing House Society Health Educator Natasha Williams was able to join, and she received both ASQ-3 & ASQSE kits to support 285 Haida Families.

SPIRIT provides support and resources to the most remote community in Northern British Columbia. With limited access to resources and the high cost of food SPIRIT provides funding to cover some of the basic necessities and a welcoming space to connect with other families which builds a stronger community. Being a part of the Global SPIRIT family, feels like a "mother's love" Even though we all come from the 4 directions of world we have the unconditional love and strength for our communities and building a strong foundation for our children to be proud of who they are and where they come from.