Denise Titian

The inability to see one another until seconds before impact is to blame for a float plane collision with an Ahousaht water taxi on Oct. 18, 2021, according to a Transportation Safety Board of Canada report released March 30.

The accident occurred in the busy Tofino Harbour in the autumn afternoon over a year ago, when a Tofino Air float plane, a de Havilland DHC-2 MK (Beaver), was coming in for a landing as an Ahousaht-based water taxi, the Rocky Pass, was also heading toward the First Street Dock.

“He’s given so much to so many, recognition of him is long overdue,” said Shelley Harding, the Alberni Valley Museum’s coordinator and education curator, of the late cultural leader, George Clutesi.

George Clutesi, born 1905, was an artist, educator, scholar, author and actor. He was a strong proponent of teaching Nuu-chah-nulth culture to anyone that would listen, so that it may be passed on to future generations.

“There’s really bad drugs out there and it’s freaking me out, our people are just dropping,” said Gail K. Gus, Tseshaht First Nation’s Crisis Care and Wellness coordinator.

She has noticed that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, people in general have become more depressed and are turning to alcohol and/or illicit drugs to cope.

The University of Victoria has received a $1 million grant to develop a clean, renewable energy source using the power of ocean waves to supply energy to Yuquot, the ancestral home of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht people.

In a statement dated March 3, the University of Victoria said its Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) has received a grant from the 2022 TD Ready Challenge to develop a clean energy project that captures the power of wave energy at Yuquot, BC.

BC Housing has selected the Port Alberni Friendship Centre (PAFC) as the new operator of the Our Home on 8th supportive housing and shelter building.

“The Port Alberni Friendship Center is excited at the opportunity to be the new operator of Our Home on 8th,” said PAFC Executive Director Cyndi Stevens. 

She went on to say that the PAFC has extensive experience in delivering this type of support and service in the valley.

The First Nations Health Authority is informing front-line workers about its Quality Care and Safety Office, offering support to Indigenous people as they navigate through the health care system in the province.

“The goal of the First Nations Health Authority’s Quality Care and Safety Office is to improve health and wellness programs and services for First Nations people across B.C.,” wrote the FNHA in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa.

Feb. 21 was International Mother Language Day and the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) celebrated the occasion by releasing its Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages 2022. Contained in the report is information about revitalization strategies and how they are progressing.

FPCC is a crown corporation launched by the government of B.C. in 1990 to fund, develop and administer programs that assist the province’s First Nations in their efforts to revitalize languages, arts, culture and heritage.

On March 10 a small group from Ditidaht Community School traveled the long bumpy ride from Nitinaht Lake to Port Alberni in their school bus to invite seventh-grade Haahuupayuk School students to their Paddle Days.

Several Nuu-chah-nulth families are reeling after the sudden deaths of two young men from overdoses of toxic street drugs in Port Alberni over the weekend.

The BC Coroner’s Service confirms that they have been notified of the deaths and is investigating.

Sources say that three men were treated for drug overdoses at an apartment on the 3200 block of Third Avenue in the early morning hours of March 4. One young man was revived with Narcan, the other two could not be saved. One of the deceased males was a father of young children. The other two involved were in their teens.

A new eco-tourism business called Ahous Adventures has been launched by the Ahousaht Ha’wiih in time for the start of the 2023 tourism season.

Based in Tofino and set open May 1, Ahous Adventures will offer both cultural and wildlife/nature viewing within the hahulthi of Ahousaht Ha’wiih (hereditary chiefs).