Quw'utsun Sta'lo' Skweyul (Cowichan River Day) 2024
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On September 22, 2024, from 10am to 3pm, please join Cowichan Tribes and the Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable in celebrating Quw'utsun Sta'lo' Skweyul (Cowichan River Day).
The day will be opened with the talented Tzinquaw Dancers, led by Robert George. John George, Cowichan elder, will be our wonderful MC for the day. There will be many activities including Cowichan elders and knowledge keepers sharing skills used for millennia such as carving, cedar weaving and traditional medicine. Opportunities include learning about why a new weir is needed, meeting Raptor birds from NW Pacific Raptors, watching fishery biologists do a river seine and countless other activities. A light lunch will be provided. Parking is behind the Si'em Lelum gym, 5574 River Road, Duncan. From there it is a short walk to Black Bridge Beach, on Cowichan Tribes property. Volunteers are needed for set up, parking, food serving, recycling, take down and more!
Contact us at [email protected] for more information! About
The Quw'utsun Sta'lo' (Cowichan River) is the lifeblood of the Quw'utsun Mustinhw (Cowichan People) and has been used by millennia by them for food, transportation, village sites, medicine and a multitude of other uses.
We are blessed in Quw'utsun (Cowichan) Valley with many rivers, streams, creeks and small tricklets. Our rivers are taking a bad hit the last few years with the effects of a long drought and climate change. Our salmon and all the other river plants and animals are suffering. We are fortunate that the Quw'utsun Sta'lo' (Cowichan River) is one of the few rivers on the east coast of Vancouver Island to have a weir. This allows water to be held back and released to assist salmon outcomes. There has been a great deal of work bringing forward a new higher weir in the future, which will help further. Other rivers such as the Koksilah, which do not have a weir and no lake to draw from are even worse off that Quw'utsun. What can we do? Educate ourselves and become engaged. Cowichan River is one of three Heritage Rivers in the province. Millions of people around the world celebrate World Rivers Day on the fourth Sunday of September. This event was started in 1980 in BC by Mark Angelo, river conservationist, and the BC Outdoor Recreation Council. From there Mark's vision has encircled the globe. In 2017, 2018 and 2021, Cowichan Tribes and the Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable co-hosted Quw'utsun River Day. Cowichan Tribes is the largest band in BC and is active on many fronts doing river stewardship. Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable was founded with Cowichan Tribes and conservation groups more than 20 years ago. It is a grass roots group promoting collaboration on solving watershed issues. |
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Thank you to everyone who joined in to make River Day 2022 so special!
For communities throughout the region, a key to coping with the CoVid19 pandemic has been to come to the river: to meet friends; to sink into the healing power of nature; to grieve painful loss. Parks, trails and beaches mirrored this in unprecedented usage. A watershed-wide celebration of this relationship was held on BC River Day, Sept 25th, 2022. This project was funded by the Government of Canada, le gouvernement du Canada, and organized by the many constituent members of the Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable in close collaboration with Cowichan Tribes members.
Please visit our gallery to see photos of the amazing day we shared!
Please visit our gallery to see photos of the amazing day we shared!
