Make a beautiful traditional Salish hand drum using deer hide and a cedar frame. The drum is not just a music maker, but a voice for the soul within the music. The drum is more than a musical instrument to those who own and play it, as it is considered to have a life of its own and is regarded as having its own powerful spirit. In some traditions the drum symbolizes the heartbeat and in others it represents the powerful medicine of thunder. 16" Salish Drum: $180 per person. Recommended Age: 15+ Years. Duration: 2.5 hours
Events and Workshops
The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre is an exquisite events venue in Whistler, hosting SLCC cultural workshops and community events, and is also available to host private events, meetings, conferences, and wedding receptions and ceremonies.
Current and Upcoming Events
Past Events
Whistler Wine Walk
October 9
Celebrate Art & Wine with Us This October!
Looking for something different to do on a Friday night? We are excited to be a part of the Whistler Wine Walk on October 9. Discover Whistler’s vibrant art scene in a fun, intimate setting, with a guided tour across three local galleries. On our gallery visit you’ll enjoy authentic Indigenous handcrafted artwork, selected canapés, along with BC wine tastings from Nk’Mip Winery (with red, white, or non-alcoholic options available) and chocolate pairings, at each stop. All tours finish at the Audain Art Museum for an after-hours view of their latest exhibition Solstice: Through Storm & Stillness, accompanied by canapés and a live DJ.
Grab your tickets before they sell out!
Three Generations
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Whistler Writers Festival: Reading Event 1
Three Generations In Conversation with Michelle Good and Zak Jones
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre | 5:00 – 6:15 p.m. | In-person $25
Generations of families reveal ties that bind, family dynamics that are passed down, and hidden secrets that, over time, have astonishing impacts. Michelle Good is the award-winning and bestselling author of Five Little Indians. Her latest novel, Eliza Sunshine, delivers a powerful family saga following three generations of Cree women and the storytelling tradition that connects them to each other. In Fancy Gap, the powerful, unforgettable debut by Zak Jones, three estranged generations in Appalachia grapple with loss, poverty, and their individual demons, until an explosive climax brings them together in apocalyptic deliverance. Join local writer, editor and actor Brandon Barrett in a conversation about their novels, exploring the crucible of three generations of kin, and how familial foundations shape the generations that follow.
Cultural & Spiritual Care: Healing through Stories
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Whistler Writers Festival: Reading Event 4
Cultural & Spiritual Care: Healing through Stories
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre | 5:30 – 6:45 p.m. | In-person $20
In the spirit of reconciliation, we welcome author, moderator and Gitxaała Nation member Kim Spencer (Springtime in Kitkatla, Here for a Good Time) in conversation with SÍK SÍK Josh Anderson of the Lil’wat Nation, and co-author of Útszan ti Smáwal̓a (Healing the Spirit): An Introduction to Ceremony, Traditional Spirituality and Healing; poet Lasänmą, author of the debut poetry collection Spruce to Cedar; and Squamish Nation cultural storyteller Tsawaysia Spukwus (Dominique Nahanee). Four guest artists share their truths and how healing can happen, through traditional ceremonies, stories, and reconnecting with culture, language and the land.
Come early to get your seat and browse the gift shop for authentic Indigenous art and keepsakes, and visit the Thunderbird Cafe for Indigenous-inspired specials, pastries and Spirit Bear Coffee.
Moderator: Kim Spencer
Sponsored by: Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre
Being Forest: A Salish Stroll
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8
Whistler Writers Festival: Reading Event 12
Being Forest: A Salish Stroll
With Avis Blackbird, Elee Kraljii Gardiner, SLCC Cultural Ambassador, and WIBA Poetry Winner
Meeting Point: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Lobby | 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. | In-person $35
What better way to experience poetry and cultural storytelling than outside in nature? Moderator Tatiana Lee will guide us along the Salish Stroll Forest Walk and Fitzsimmons Creek to pause for readings by debut author Avis Blackbird (Lightning in Our Roots) and the City of Vancouver’s current Poet Laureate, Elee Kraljii Gardiner (sometimes, forest). Cultural talks with the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre’s Cultural Ambassador will take place throughout the event. This year we will be joined by the inaugural 2026 Winner of the Whistler Independent Book Award for Poetry. Dress for the weather, this event takes place rain or shine. Complimentary coffee, tea and light refreshments will fuel the walk.
Moderated by: Tatiana Lee
Whistler Writers Festival
Additional Indigenous author events at the Whistler Writers Festival, November 5-8, 2026: Get Tickets
MICHELLE GOOD
Summoning Your Story With Michelle Good – Writing Workshop
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | Friday, November 5, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. | In-person $32
Storytelling is as ancient as humanity itself. Humans seem driven to tell stories whether it’s through painting on cave walls, dance, song, or the written word. It is a fascinating drive and we will begin our session with a conversation about why we write and what about our writing leaves us feeling we’ve met our goal and what things stand in the way of that. We will look at what vehicles we use to give life to our imagination on the page in the form of character and plot as well as looking at the relationship between character and plot. We will also spend some time looking at structure what role it takes in creating a powerful foundation for story. We will engage in one or two writing exercises that we will discuss as a group.
TARA GEREAUX is the author of three books, including the recently released novel, Wild People Quiet. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and is the recipient of the City of Regina Writing Award, the Colleen and Allan Bailey Memorial Fund from the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts, and a REVEAL Indigenous Art Award from the Hnatyshyn Foundation. From the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, she is a citizen of Métis Nation-Saskatchewan and resides in Regina on Treaty 4 territory.
Featured at Reading Event 7: Tectonic Shifts: Writers of Fiction
LASÄNMĄ (she/her) was raised in Haines Junction, Yukon and is a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation. Her English name is Mariah MacDonald, and she is a part of the Wolf Clan. Mariah lived in Haines Junction and Whitehorse before moving to Vancouver at the age of twenty-one, where she studied at the University of British Columbia (located on the unceded Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations). Spruce to Cedar is Lasänmą’s first published work as an author.
Featured at Reading Event 4: Cultural & Spiritual Care
MICHAEL NICOLL YAHGULANAAS is a visual artist, author, librettist, and mischief-maker. His art lives in public spaces, private collections, and museums including the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Humboldt Forum, the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, the Seattle Art Museum, UBC’s Museum of Anthropology, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. His publications include Flight of the Hummingbird, RED, Carpe Fin, War of the Blink, JAJ, and, most recently, The Lost Haida Manga, published by Douglas & McIntyre (2026).
Featured at: Reading Event 13 Voices to Urge Youth On, and Reading Event 14 Book Talk and Breakfast