The Salt Spring Island Foundation announced on April 8, 2026, that it has awarded $54,000 to two local initiatives as part of its Indigenous Priorities Grants. These grants are designed to support Truth and Reconciliation efforts and local Indigenous food systems on the island.
The Salt Spring Island Conservancy received $40,000 to continue work on the Fulford Sea Garden project. This project focuses on restoring an ancient clam garden at Fulford Harbour, where stacked rock walls have created an underwater staircase that is approximately 4,500 years old. The effort works to maintain this traditional food technology alongside Indigenous knowledge keepers.
A second grant of $14,000 was awarded to the Penelakut Tribes to support the annual Truth and Reconciliation Day celebration on Salt Spring Island. Now in its fifth year, the event is led by Penelakut Tribes Council Member and local resident Kurt Irwin. The gathering brings together hundreds of local elders, knowledge keepers, drummers, and residents for a day of community healing.
This is the fifth year for the grant program, which is a collaboration between the Salt Spring Island Foundation, the Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation, and community donations. Since starting in 2022, the program has distributed over $351,428 to 29 different initiatives across the island, which sits on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Hul’qumi’num and SENĆOŦEN-speaking Coast Salish people.
