The Warrior Program model has been shaped over the years by many youth who are a part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Youth Warrior Family Society. Their dedication and involvement has contributed to the creation of The Warrior Toolkit. To learn more, visit their website:
The Warrior Support Team consists of young Nuu-chah-nulth men, adult mentors and Knowledge Keepers who are dedicated to uplifting and inspiring youth. We support Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities wishing to start a ‘Warrior Program’ or create similar leadership and outdoor experiences for their young people. Our team is primarily based on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Nuu-chah-nulth Territory and extends to Coast Salish and St’át’imc Territories.
We support communities to continue or start youth-on-the-land programming. We work directly with the passionate and dedicated individuals on the ground who know their youth and have identified a need for activities, connection, and mentorship. We offer access to the Warrior Toolkit — a free, online resource and information hub — comprising lesson plans, how-to videos, games, and recipe cards to keep you organized and feeling confident to facilitate a program, as well as face-to-face mentorship.
Our role can be as brief as granting your team access to the Toolkit, or more involved guidance to get a program up and running. Whatever path you choose, the Warrior Support Team is here to encourage and ‘heart-hold’ along the way.
The love, energy, and time we dedicate to this work has always been in response to a Nation’s request wanting to support their youth. Our approach is to ‘lead with love’ and create meaningful relationships built on trust, respect, and deep listening to learn what the needs and interests are of each community and its youngest voices. Our team brings expertise in trip planning, safety and emergency response, survival skills, and youth leadership to create a sense of hope, belonging, meaning and purpose.
We remind each Nation that their people, songs, stories, and territories hold the medicine, healing, and opportunities for their program. In collaboration with Elders and matriarchs, we have created a pathway to safely bring youth back to their traditional territories where they can learn new skills, try and fail, uplift one another, prevent substance use and abuse, and discover what they are good at to become leaders in their own lives and communities.
The Warrior program began in the summer of 2015 in the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ community of Hitacu on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Today the program model is hosted in several Nuu-chah-nulth communities, and reaching youth across the country. It has come to teach survival in three ways: wilderness survival skills if you get lost in the woods; how to survive and lead in emergency situations; and strategies to survive life in today’s society.
Request access to The Warrior Toolkit by sending us a message! Our team is keen to learn how we can best support your community’s interests and hopes for your young people. Once we make a connection, you may be granted access to The Warrior Toolkit – equipped with all of the training tools and resources, tips and information so you can feel supported to shape a land-based program for your own community.
