Tlowitsis Nation celebrates opening of Nenagwas community south of Campbell River
Published 5:00 am Wednesday, September 30, 2026
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Decades after being forced from their home village, the Tlowitsis people gathered to mark the opening of Nenagwas, a new community on the southern edge of Campbell River.
Nenagwas means “a place to come home to” in Kwak̓wala.
The Nation was forced to leave Kalagwees, on Turnour Island, in the 1960s. The Nation says federal decisions drove members out, and no alternative housing was provided. Its roughly 450 to 500 members were scattered across Vancouver Island and the coast, which made governing and maintaining cultural continuity difficult.
In 2018, the Tlowitsis bought a former forestry lot using accumulated forestry revenues. It then went through the federal process to have the land granted reserve status.
Ten homes are complete and 15 more are under construction. The first members will move in starting Oct. 1.
A band office and resource management centre are already operating on site. Roads, sewer lines and a water treatment plant have been installed. Leadership says independent funding has let the Nation avoid the delays that typically come with federal funding.
The Nation’s long term plan calls for more than 180 residential lots over three phases in the next seven years. Planned features include a Big House, a carving studio, a health centre, a daycare, a playground and multi-use school facilities. The Nation also plans facilities to store, process and distribute traditional foods such as salmon, elk and shellfish, along with rental and commercial space to support self-governance.
The event on Sept. 26 began with a blessing ceremony joining the old home and the new. Water from a river that sustained the Tlowitsis for thousands of years was brought to the site, along with eagle down and cedar boughs representing the elements.
“We’re here today to say (the removal) was not a success and we’re still here,” Dallas Smith, Nation member and president and CEO of the Nanwakolas Council, told the crowd, referring to efforts to break up the Nation by removing children, schools and opportunities.
He explained the ceremonial fire is a portal for those who have died to return and help the community heal. He said the Nation’s future starts with housing, education and health care, which it has struggled to provide because members have been spread out for so long.
“We thank you all for being here to witness this rebirth of a people that never went away,” he said. “We just needed a place to come back together.”
Smith credited Chief Thomas Smith and Chief John Smith with carrying forward the vision of their late brother, Alec Smith, through decades of setbacks.
“How many times they’ve been told no, or maybe, or it’s not going to happen and they just continued pushing that rock up the hill for something that’s going to pay off for generations,” said Smith.
He said he is already looking ahead to next year.
“I’m thinking about the first Halloween here,” he said. “I’m thinking about walking up and down the streets in our own community.”
He also spoke of the first children boarding school buses from the village and of elders coming home.
Another speaker recalled his family’s removal from the old village. His grandfather rolled the family’s house on logs into the water and towed it to a new location, where it became their home. The house still stands and is owned by a Tlowitsis member.
“It is hard not to think about him today as we stand here so proud,” he said. “I’m sure he’s smiling down on us.”
Chief John Smith closed out the ceremony saying his ancestors were tough people who were pushed from their homeland.
“But this is our homeland now,” he said.