New funding to replace mouldy daycare in tsunami path

New daycare funding for theUclueletFirst Nation will be used to replace a mouldy building located in a tsunami floodzone.

The $500,000 grant will help create34spaces in a new daycare centre to be namedQwayaciik?iis, which means "wolf cubs."

LesDorion, the elected president ofUclueletFirst Nation, also known as theYuuuiath, said the community's existing daycare wasmoved out of the mouldy building intotemporary space in the First Nation's government office, but the location is not ideal.

"The daycare is adjacent to the reception area," he said. "It can be a little unfriendly at times. People are coming in and they're looking for their social assistance or they're looking for health care or they're looking for whatever."

Earlier this month,the B.C. government announced $33 million in grants to create 3,800 new daycare spaces across the province, 535 of them in Indigenous communities.

The new daycare spaces will be builtin a separate wing that will be added to the three-year-old government building inHitacu, across the bay from the village ofUcluelet. The site ison high ground in the tsunami safe zone.

The new daycare will also be used for cultural and traditional language programs for the children.

"One of the biggest challenges that we're facing is we only have seven fluent speakers remaining in our tribe,"Dorionsaid.

Children to learn traditional language

The First Nation is working to preserve their language through digitization, butDorionsaid there ispotential for retaining the language by teaching it toyoung children.

"They mimic and parrot and reflect on anything that you do, so we want to get the elders involved in the language program in that daycare," he said.

The new daycare spaces will more than meet the current need of theUclueletFirst Nation, but more children are likely to come from the District ofUcluelet, wheredaycaresare atcapacity.

Meanwhile,Dorionsaid, there are hopes that memberswho are living off-reserve will begin to return as the First Nation continues to expandhousing and infrastructure.

UclueletFirst Nation is one of the fiveMaa-NulthTreaty nations thatreached a settlement in 2006 that included nearly $500 million.

"We just built seven more homes and hopefully that will help bring people up to speed and bring more people home," he said.

Dorionsaid only about 200 memberslive in the community, while there are about500 urban members of the First Nation.Dorionhimselfreturned two and a half years ago, after his election as president.