Over a hundred walked through the pouring rain today in recognition of the many missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, gathering near a spot where an Aboriginal woman died under suspicious circumstances just a month ago in Port Alberni.
Organizers are hoping that what is traditionally known as “the creator’s game” will see more interest among Port Alberni youth now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing.
After being held off for two years due to the pandemic, the Alberni Valley Minor Lacrosse Association is bringing back its spring Novice tournament, with help from a design by a Nuu-chah-nulth artist.
The tournament is being held over the weekend on May 6-8 at the Alberni Valley Multiplex for eight and nine-year-olds.
As the province undergoes a transition in the management of old growth forests, the importance of territorial stewardship over logging profits was stressed during the Anacla Old Growth Summit on April 28.
This was the message from the hosting Huu-ay-aht, who held the summit for over 100 who ventured to the First Nation’s village in Barkley sound, next to Bamfield. Among the opening statements was a message from Tayii Ḥaw̓ił ƛiišin, Derek Peters, who emphasized the need to preserve his nation’s resources amid economic demands.
New directives for the province’s lawyers to avoid court battles with First Nations have hit the Nuchatlaht with bitter irony.
One month into the small First Nation’s trial in the B.C. Supreme Court, where the Nuchatlaht seek Aboriginal title over its territory on the northern half of Nootka Island, the provincial government announced a new approach to litigating that better aligns with B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s Act. The directives stress the need to avoid lengthy, expensive court battles with First Nations whenever possible.
Three years ago First Nations across British Columbia celebrated the first payment of their newly designated share of the province’s gaming revenue. But as COVID-19 closed casinos the following year gambling proceeds dried up, forcing many Indigenous governments to put their community projects on hold.
In two and a half months salmon farms throughout the B.C. coast are due to expire, with no firm commitment yet from the federal government to renew these licences.
But as uncertainty hangs over the controversial industry, the man speaking for Ahousaht’s Tyee is standing in support of aquaculture in his territory, with a claim that a failure from the government to support salmon farms in Ahousaht waters will betray commitments to reconciliation with First Nations.
On a crisp, spring morning children from Haahuupayak Elementary school danced on the site where, generations before, their ancestors were housed at the Alberni Indian Residential School.
A basketball court is nearly complete on the location where Peake Hall once stood, a structure built in 1954 to serve as a dormitory for the assimilationist institution, which took in First Nations children from across the West Coast and B.C.’s Interior. After being run for most of a century, the residential school closed in 1973, followed by the demolition of Peake Hall in 2009.
With an emphasis on the path to “economic reconciliation,” April 13 marked 10 years since First Nations gained director status with the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District.
Leaders from the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ and the Huu-ay-aht First Nations spoke before a full board meeting on April 13, a decade since they became the first Indigenous communities in the province to gain representation on a regional district.
Six years after the opioid crisis was declared a public health emergency by the province, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council is calling for immediate action on Vancouver Island, as families continue to be torn by tragedy at an increasing rate.
This morning Barney Williams shed tears, as an apology from Pope Francis summoned distant emotions from his childhood in residential school.
“I think that there’s a lot of happy people like myself, breathing a sigh of relief and saying, ‘Finally’,” said the Tla-o-qui-aht elder, who attended Christie Residential School on Meares Island as a child, followed by a stint in Kamloops at a Catholic-run high school. “I feel better that it’s happened now.”