Tsastilqualus Ambers Umbas is reclaiming her people’s land. Umbas belongs to the Ma’amtagila First Nation and has taken up residence in Hiladi, located in British Vancouver, Canada, a region within her ancestral lands which has never been ceded to the Canadian government. The home which she currently resides in was built in 2019 and is known as Little Big House and is meant to emulate the style of a Kwakwaka’wakw house. While Umbas resided in Matriarch Camp, as it is known, alone at first, a recently finished bunkhouse will allow for other residents to live in Hiladi. This reclamation contributes to the global Land Back movement which seeks to return lands to Indigenous communities. In this case, living in Hiladi is the beginning of the Ma’amtagila obtaining their rights to their lands. By going to court with the Canadian government, the Ma’amtagila hope to gain independence from the Tlowitsis First Nation. These Nations were joined together when most of the Ma’amtagila left their territory to go to Turnour Island, where the Tlowitsis traditionally inhabited. Umbas has big dreams for Matriarch Camp and envisions more residents, a garden, and celebration existing on these lands.
