The ancestral name that I currently carry is ƛ̓akʷapiqa, which can be loosely translated to ‘copper on top’, but I also go by Lelaina Jules. I am a woman, she/her, from Hesquiaht First Nation, one of the fourteen Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island. My father Steve is from Hesquiaht on his father Stephen’s side and Ahousaht on his mother Jean’s side. My heritage also includes Danish and Estonian on my mother Karen’s side. I grew up on the Hesquiaht Indian Reserve located in Hot Springs Cove. I am a mother, sister, daughter, auntie, cousin, friend, learner and a teacher living in the unceded and traditional territory of the K’omoks First Nations, ƛ ̓eekoo ƛ ̓eekoo. Within the Comox Valley School District, Indigenous Education, my role is Indigenous Education Curriculum support teacher for the grades 8-12 curricula.
