National Ribbon Skirt Day is an opportunity to honour the significance of ribbon skirts or shirts while celebrating Indigenous culture, resilience and identity. Worn during ceremonies and gatherings, ribbon skirts carry a powerful symbol of pride, tradition and spirituality.

​​On Jan. 4, the First Nation Health Authority invites you to join the celebration by wearing and sharing your beautiful ribbon skirt and shirts on our social media pages or under the hashtag #fnharibbonskirtphotos.​

The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) has announced that it will now provide reimbursement for a vaccine that offers protection against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). This coverage is effective immediately, ensuring increased protection for both pregnant individuals and their babies.

A new evaluation report is showcasing how the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and First Nations communities are revitalizing and reclaiming traditional land-based healing practices.

The importance of traditional land-based healing is important to the wholistic health of First Nations community members:

“Land-based healing saves lives. We take men that are young parents stuck in addiction and do one-on-one counselling. It's so powerful, the changes that the men have . . . That is our treatment centre, being outside. We have the ability to bring people who may be in a critical space to do the protocol, and call the spirit back. Sweat lodge ceremony, traditional songs, our healing and cultural tools, the hand drum, rattle. They are coming back to it through opening the doors of land-based healing." – Land-based healing practitioner

A new FNHA evaluation report explores how the Indigenous Treatment and Land-Based Healing Fund created in FY 2018/19 has supported 147 First Nations-led initiatives to relearn, reclaim and revitalize traditional land-based healing practices throughout the province.

The Environmental Health Foundation of Canada (EHFC) is offering a scholarship designed to support Indigenous students pursuing education in Environmental Public Health through programs accredited by the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI). BCIT’s Environmental Public Health program is one of the qualified programs and the only CIPHI-accredited Environmental Public Health program in British Columbia! 
 
There is a tight turnaround for students, as applications for the bursary close on February 15, 2025, but the bursary is available to students applying to start their program in Fall 2025!
 
To ensure this opportunity reaches those who could benefit most, we will also be sharing it with our contacts within the First Nations groups within BC. If you have additional networks or contacts who might benefit, we would be grateful if you could share this information with them as well.
 
To learn more about this exciting opportunity, watch the video here or click the link below to learn more and apply.

Are you, or is someone you know, a youth passionate about innovative approaches to the toxic drug crisis? Island Health is now accepting applicants 19 years old and younger who worked on a recent project that focused on reducing harms related to unregulated substances for the 2025 Youth Harm Reduction Award. Winners receive $1,000.

For details and to apply visit Applications open for 2025 Youth Harm Reduction Award | Island Health