FNHA hosts family wellness at 2025 LEGO Spirit Global Gathering – FNHA
September 26, 2025
Along the banks of the Cowichan River, families have passed down ancient knowledge of spearfishing with slender cedar poles since time immemorial on Vancouver Island. This traditional way of fishing weaves together sustenance and ceremony. This unbroken bond between the Cowichan Tribes and the river was on display at the Quw’utsun Cultural Centre in Duncan, BC this summer for the start of the 2025 LEGO Spirit Global Gathering.
“My mom shared that when we were little ones, because even women do it, she would put us on her back and carry us down to the river to spear fish as we were on her back,” says Ann-Marie Louie, Family Spirit Worker/ Home Visitor for the Cowichan Tribes, after Elder Harold Joe concluded his demonstration, kicking off the six-day cultural exchange. “Sometimes we’d be sitting with my great-grandma on the shoreline, watching my mom spear.”
In July, First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) welcomed over 70 delegates from Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia and the United States to celebrate the success and unity of the LEGO Spirit project. A partnership between FNHA and the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health (JHCIH), the LEGO Spirit program trains local home visitors to support First Nations parents with children from birth to age six.
