Name 

Paddling Toward Renewal: Language, Land, and Economic Wellness

Speaker

K'odi Nelson, Nawalakw Community Foundation

Description

K’odi Nelson, founder of Nawalakw, opens this visually rich session in Kwak̓wala — a language that is reawakening through community-led revitalization. A lifelong educator, culture teacher, former professional athlete, and adventure guide, K’odi brings a deeply personal perspective shaped by the intergenerational impacts of the residential school system.

Through powerful storytelling and imagery from a remote culture camp in the heart of Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw territory, he shares how healing, language, and economic renewal are inseparable.

At Nawalakw, Elders, youth, and partners work together through language immersion, land-based education, renewable energy, food systems, and employment programming to build a living model of cultural and economic resurgence.

Framed through the metaphor of a canoe journey, this session invites participants to consider a new model of wellness — and to reflect, question assumptions about development and philanthropy, and ask: who wants to paddle in this journey with us?