Hiýáḿ Project 2025
Hiýáḿ Project 2025 - Honouring Indigenous Peoples Day & Indigenous History Month
For our 5th annual Hiýáḿ Project, we are helping to contribute native seeds to Indigenous communities. This year’s featured plant is Achillea millefolium, known by the name of ṮELIḰEȽP in SENĆOŦEN, Si7sem’achxw in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Yarrow in English. In honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day, we're donating seed packets to partnering Indigenous communities, individuals, and organizations.
The Hiýáḿ Project is a collaboration with Sḵwálwen Botanicals that brings native seeds to Indigenous communities. Hiýáḿ is a Squamish word that was chosen by Leigh Joseph of Sḵwálwen Botanicals and translates to ‘return home.' She chose this name to signify what it means to welcome Indigenous plants onto the land and the ways that Leigh describes "plants can lead us home, to ourselves, to the land, and our families". The seed packets feature beautiful artwork by W̱SÁNEĆ Nation artist Sarah Jim of W̱SIKEM (Tseycum). Pictured below, Sarah is holding the Hiýáḿ Project's 2023 design.
Launched in 2021, the Hiýáḿ Project’s first iteration featured Coastal Mugwort seed packets distributed to Sḵwálwen customers in tandem with donations to the BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin), Scia'new (Beecher Bay), and W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip) communities on southern Vancouver Island. In year two, we featured Stinging Nettle (ts'exts'ix in Squamish and ȾEXȾEX in SENĆOŦEN), and last year, we featured Barestem Desert-parsley (K’EXMIN in SENĆOŦEN).
In 2024, we partnered with members of Malahat Nation, STAUTW, Sci'anew, Stewards of Sc'ianew Society, NIȽ TU,O Child and Family Services Society, PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱, Aunty Collective, Hulitan Community and Family Services Society, Wild About Plants, and many more. We deeply appreciate our community partners for their essential support in distributing these seeds.
For more information, check out Sḵwálwen Botanical's webpage, or click here as Dominque James (Satinflower Nurseries) shares some of her knowledge of our previous Hiýáḿ species: x̱ach’t, ȾEXȾEX and K’EXMIN.