as among all Indigenous peoples worldwide, language diversity and preservation are inseparably linked to cultural diversity and preservation. Any fluent Heiltsuk speaker knows that much is lost when describing our traditional culture in another language. There are nuances that can only be captured in our language – which is so much part of who we are. Many of our Elders attribute their ability to speak Heiltsuk to the time when they could speak freely with their Elders while living in Húy̓at. Truly capturing the sense and meaning of our language requires being out on the land, telling stories, and gathering our food in the ways we have been taught. In their wisdom, many of our Elder’s Elders intuitively understood the connection to places like Húy̓at, language, and our Heiltsuk identity.