Tag Archives: Gaagwiis (Jason Alsop)

BC and First Nations unite to defend tanker ban

 Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

The BC coast is “not for sale.”

BC Premier David Eby and coastal First Nations sent that message to Ottawa on Wednesday as they called on the federal government to uphold the oil tanker ban on the province’s north coast.

Eby and First Nation leaders stressed oil spills would cause irreversible environmental harm, the destruction of critical marine ecosystems and significant economic damage to First Nations and coastal communities.

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Haida Nation signs first-of-its-kind Aboriginal title agreement with Canada

By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Haida Nation and the Government of Canada signed a historical agreement on Feb. 17, affirming Haida Aboriginal title on Haida Gwaii, including the islands’ land, beds of freshwater bodies, and foreshores to the low-tide mark. 

President of the Haida Nation Gaagwiis Jason Alsop said the milestone Chiix̲uujin/Chaaw K̲aawgaa “Big Tide (Low Water)” Agreement, which was initiated in 1913 by past Haida leaders, ushers in a new era of peaceful co-existence.

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‘It’s all Haida land’: Nation’s title to be officially recognized over the entirety of Haida Gwaii

By Julie Chadwick, IndigiNews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

In a decision that has been more than 50 years in the making, “B.C.” has announced the completion of a draft agreement that formally recognizes the Haida Nation’s Aboriginal title throughout its entire territory of Haida Gwaii. 

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Canada, First Nations take first steps to protect massive swath of deep ocean on West Coast

 Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal government and coastal First Nations took a significant step towards establishing a massive marine protected area off the West Coast of Vancouver Island on Tuesday.

The proposed Tang.ɢwan — ḥačxwiqak — Tsig̱isMarine Protected Area (MPA) covers a 133,000-square-kilometre swath of open ocean 150 kilometres off the island’s west coast. The area harbours a unique concentration of hydrothermal vents, underwater sea mountains and rich deep-sea biodiversity hot spots found nowhere else in the world.

Continue reading Canada, First Nations take first steps to protect massive swath of deep ocean on West Coast