O’man’s Nam’a (We Are One) is a Healing and Community Engagement Collaborative to continue and further promote, healing and relationship building between the church and First Nations individuals and communities (particularly among the Gwa’sala-Nakwaxda’xw, Quatsino, and Kwagu’ł communities) in the Port Hardy area.
O’man’s Nam’a is a profound Kwak’wala phrase which means “we are one.” The Healing and Reconciliation Community Collaborative which would be based out of St. Columba’s United Anglican Church, and provide weekly community building events focused on reconciliation and healing which are could be held at St. Columba’s, JC Memorial Church, the Sacred Wolf Friendship Centre, in people’s homes on and off reserve.
Community building events run approximately 2 hrs in length creating a space to offer an honest, open, and safe exchange of ideas, perspectives and experiences around questions of culture, faith, identity. Another major part of these events would be having the opportunity to engage experientially in various forms of prayer, meditation and ceremony. Singing together and breaking bread together would also be a part of the events. We would also seek to create opportunities for weekly joint community improvement initiatives (i.e. graffiti removal, beach and green space clean up. In addition, we participate in regular outings to explore the beauty of surrounding nature and to appreciate the wisdom and culture of First Peoples who have been stewards of this land from time immemorial (i.e. mushroom picking, participating in ceremony together, harvesting of traditional plants and medicines, smoking salmon, and a yearly camping trip).
Finally, we seek to to offer healing and reconciliation workshops, training and events for the benefit of the whole community.
Contact our planter/starters at:
- St. Columba (Judy): admin@stcolumbaporthardy.ca 250-949-6247
- Christine Muise: cmuise@bc.anglican.ca 250-230-2448
- Sheila Cook scook@stcolumbaporthardy.ca 250-230-7433