Tla’amin Launches New Service Model built on Ancestral Teachings
qaχayɛ mɛtštəm means many working together to accomplish something
February 24, 2025
The Tla’amin Nation today releases qaχayɛ mɛtštəm Service Model, a guiding framework that writes Tla’amin teachings directly into the delivery of care, programs, and services for Tla’amin citizens. The model captures the “Tla’amin way” of service delivery and is offered as a tool to Tla’amin and non-Tla’amin service providers.
Tla’amin qaymɩxʷ come from a rich history of well-being that was produced through relationship with the territory and maintained through the passing on of teachings about how to exist in right relations with the environment and people, and teachings about how to raise the next generations to do the same. This kept Tla’amin well for thousands of years.
At the heart of the qaχayɛ mɛtštəm framework is the process to create χa:p̓—a baby basket. Just as weaving a basket requires preparation, skill, and patience so too does the work of redesigning services that nurture, protect, and uplift the Tla’amin people.
“This Service Model emerges from the reality that colonial policies, including the forced removal of children and disruption of governance systems, fractured Tla’amin well-being,” said hegus John Hackett “With the signing of the 2016 Tla’amin Treaty and, more recently, the ʔaǰuθmɛt Interim Agreement with the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), Tla’amin is reclaiming its rightful role in providing services for its people, and we are doing it in our way.”
The Tla’amin čičyɛ (grandmother) circle, who have played a critical role in shaping Tla’amin’s Child and Family Services, emphasize that this model is about more than programs—it is about relationships.
“Our children are a gift from the creator, not ours to keep, but ours to care for the best we can,” shared the čičyɛ circle in a statement. “It is our responsibility to act with love in our hearts for all children, to protect and teach them, and to rebuild the trust, connection, and respect that colonialism sought to break.”
The Service Model will guide both Tla’amin service providers who are familiar with, or rediscovering these teachings, as well as external service providers who provide services to Tla’amin citizens.
The qaχayɛ mɛtštəm Service Model is now available for download on the Tla’amin Nation website. Service providers, government partners, and citizens are encouraged to explore the model and consider how its teachings can strengthen relationships and service delivery within Tla’amin and beyond.
To download the qaχayɛ mɛtštəm Service Model and learn more, please visit: https://tlaamin.boleyn.dev/tlaamin-service-model/
Questions: Media@tn-bc.ca
About Tla’amin Nation
The Tla’amin Nation is a self-governing modern treaty nation with significant land holdings in the qathet region on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. The Tla’amin Treaty with Canada and British Columbia came into force in 2016. Tla’amin people have occupied the region for millennia, stewarding the land and sea in accordance with Tla’amin law and respect for the natural world. To learn more please visit https://tlaamin.boleyn.dev/