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Photo from Qqs Project Society via Upworthy.
The town is part of the native Heiltsuk Nation. In the early 70s, Bella Bella was less than idyllic. The local fishery was the main source of income for locals, and it was failing badly. Alcoholism became rampant. At the same time, the Canadian government had been banning important native cultural ceremonies and was aggressively attempting to Europeanize kids by not allowing them to speak their native language in schools. They even took some kids from their home and places them into boarding schools in order to distance them from their culture. Only about 1 in 50 students was completing high school and Bella Bella had one of the highest suicide rates in Canada.
Enter a kick-ass government worker named Larry Jorgenson. He had previously helped to overhaul Alberta’s mental health system. The locals of Bella Bella thought he might be able to lend a hand to their troubled community, and that he did.
Jorgenson immediately set the priority of restoring the kids’ fractured connection to their territory. He would organize long boat trips or projects where the kids would build cabins. He convinced local law enforcement to let juvenile offenders serve their hard time in the cabins — a traditional practice — instead of sending them to detention centers.
In the 90s, he, with the town’s support, started the nonprofit Qqs Project Society, a science and cultural camp that helps kids connect to their heritage. The program helps teach kids cultural traditions, gets them back into the wild, and brings in scientists, instructors, and local experts to teach about the islands and coasts that make up their home.
Today, Bella Bella is a totally different place than it was in the 90s. Graduation rates are upwards of 85%. During the fall, the town celebrates salmon with a festival where kids learn to fillet, smoke, and barbecue the fish. Kids spend a lot of time in the rainforest and know the traditional stories form their elders.
A lot of the kids who were originally helped by Jorgenson and Qqs are sticking around town and working as camp counselors, community leaders, and researchers. The Heiltsuk have taken over local resource management, and ecotourism is bringing in people from all over the world to see the Great Bear Rainforest, its grizzlies, and the rare white Kermode bears.
Bella Bella shows us that when people are able to reconnect to their heritage and feel proud of their roots, rehabilitation on both a personal and a large scale is entirely possible.
Source: matadornetwork.com