Hazel Dorothy Good | Tsum Quat or Tsum Qwat
b.March 3, 1914 – d.September 7, 2005
Tsum Quat Hazel Good was a Snuneymuxw Elder, teacher, and Hul’q’umi’num’ language expert. She was born on Valdes Island to Celestine (née Marshall) and William Good and lived most of her life in the Snuneymuxw homeland. As a young woman she married Stanley Michell (also written Mitchell) of Chilliwack (Sts’ailes First Nation) and together they had three sons and six daughters. One of their sons was Dr. William Good ts’usqinuxun, Master hul’q’umi’num artist and Hereditary Chief (1950-2025).
During her lifetime, Hazel was very proud of her father, Tseskinakhen William Good, son of Snuneymuxw Chief Louis Good, a leader and a distinguished member of his Snuneymuxw community. As a young man, William was a world-class runner. In the 1890s he won the 440 yard race at the World’s Fair in San Francisco which gave him the designation of the fastest man in the world. Unfortunately, her father never received his medal, he was disqualified for being Indigenous. From 1908–1950, William served as a police officer for the Snuneymuxw people. He was later awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation medal (1953) for his outstanding police service.
Hazel Good followed in her family’s footsteps as a leader who was committed to supporting her Snuneymuxw community. She was an active and important part of the work to revitalize the Hul’q’umi’num’ language, readily sharing her knowledge with new learners, linguists, and researchers.
In the 1980s she was a member of the Q’Puthet Unwinis Elders’ Group, volunteering her time to teach young people from her community cultural knowledge and the Hul’q’umi’num’ language. The group taught traditional activities like clam digging and cooking as well as arts like spinning, knitting, beading, basket work and weaving. Hazel, alongside Margaret James, Emily Manson, Eva Thomas, May Frenchie, and Anderson Tommy, worked to revitalize the Hul’q’umi’num’ language, teaching children through the Sallassalton Unwinis alternative school and at a kindergarten on the Nanaimo reserve. Many of these Elders also worked with linguists, anthropologists and other researchers, including Wilson Duff and Donna Gerdts, in an effort to revitalize the Hul’q’umi’num’ language and ensure the survival of their traditions and culture for future generations.
We are grateful for the generous way she shared her language and culture. In her lifetime she made an invaluable contribution to the revitalization of the Hul’q’umi’num’ and our culture.
Stories by Hazel Good
References
- Photo from https://www.facebook.com/IndigenousAmerica70/posts/tseskinakhen-aka-william-good-and-his-daughter-hazel-good-from-the-nanaimo-town-/122285333744259010/ ↩︎
- This photograph was featured in a 1988 Nanaimo Free Press newspaper article about the group’s efforts to share cultural teachings and Hul’q’umi’num’ language with youth. https://www.newspapers.com/article/nanaimo-daily-news/45750600/ ↩︎