Kackaamin Family Development Centre marked 50 years of healing earlier this month with a full day of celebration.
This celebration took place at Kackaamin's facility on Beaver Creek Road in Port Alberni on Friday, July 5. Special guests for the day included representatives from the local Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, the First Nations Health Authority and the City of Port Alberni, as well as Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns.
"You are leading the legacy of healing," Johns told the crowd on July 5. "This needs to be replicated across all of Canada."
Kackaamin is a family treatment facility that uses the basis of Nuu-chah-nulth values to provide trauma-informed care to First Nations families. It uses a holistic approach to family healing and growth, with the understanding that trauma leads to addictions.
Emcee Stan Matthew of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation explained that Kackaamin is one of only three Indigenous family treatment facilities in Canada.
Kackaamin was originally located in Kakawis, on Meares Island, at the site of the former Christie Indian Residential School. In the early 1970s, when the residential school was relocated, local Nuu-chah-nulth elders, the Catholic Church and some business people gathered to decide what could be done with the old site. The decision was made to transform it into a family centre, where families could go for safe haven.
It was in 1974 that the first group attended Kakawis to start their healing journeys. Since then, Kakawis has evolved into a therapeutic healing centre called Kackaamin Family Development Centre.
It was in 2009 that Kackaamin moved to its current location, a larger and more accessible facility in Port Alberni on Beaver Creek Road, on the site of a former elementary school.
The word Kackaamin (pronounced "cots-common") means "butterfly" in Nuu-chah-nulth and symbolizes the transformative work that takes place at the treatment centre.
Lisa Robinson, the executive director of Kackaamin, thanked both the Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations on July 5 for allowing them to do work on their territory.
“We needed healing and safe spaces," she explained.
As a residential school survivor herself, Robinson explained that it's important to focus on the whole family when it comes to healing. In addition to their supported recovery program, Kackaamin also offers a new program called "Rebuilding the Circle," which addresses individuals who need to heal from sexual harm.
Workers with Kackaamin passed out cedar headbands to all of the children present on July 5, which Robinson said represents "putting our circle back together."
"Children are the centre of everything," Robinson said. "Creating a trauma-informed team means our staff are aware of their own trauma and triggers, which enables us to attune to the families we serve.”
Richard Watts, chair of the Kackaamin board of directors, said that healing is a long and hard, but overall good, journey.
“It was the fur traders that introduced out people to drink," Watts said. "For years and years, Kackaamin has supported our people. They supply support for them. Healing is a tough thing, and it is an hour to be here to celebrate."
The remainder of the day and evening was packed with entertaining, educational events and food.
