Tag Archives: Indian Act

Arts, Indigenous Nations History

NameSake: A filmed Journey towards Recognition, Reconciliation and Place

The radio version of this story opens with a short clip from the documentary NameSake in which Dr Evan Adams welcomes viewers to Tla-amin territory. Then he adds,  ”A lot of people who live here now don’t know us. They forget that all of this used to be ours, and that this city is still in our territory.” 

NameSake will be playing in the House of the Klahoose People, on Cortes Island, at 2 PM on Tuesday, June 30. It is about the Tla’amin People’s connection to the ancestral village site that was taken away from them and renamed Powell River. Then they asked the city to change its name back to  Tiskʷat. The film was screened at Hot Docs in Toronto, the DOXA Festival in Vancouver and will be shown at the Victoria Film Festival this coming July. In this morning’s interview we talk to Dr Evan Adams, who just welcomed you to Tla’amin territory, and Executive Producer Claudia Medina. 

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Indigenous Nations

Lax Kw’alaams elected, hereditary leaders sign accord ahead of historic referendum

By Radha Agarwal, Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

Indicating a united front before the Lax Kw’alaams votes on its landmark constitution, the hereditary leaders of the Allied Ts’msyen Tribes and the Lax Kw’alaams elected council have officially signed a Governance Accord.

“Our Allied Tribes leaders have rightful authority, and we (the elected leadership) need to work closely together,” said Lax Kw’alaams mayor Garry Reece. 

Lax Kw’alaams consists of descendants from the Nine Tribes of the Ts’msyen, which include the Gitlaan, Gispaxlo’ots, Gilutz’aaẅ, Gitandoa, Gitnadoixs, Ginax’angiik, Gits’iis, Gitzaxłaał, and the Gitwilgyoots. It has approximately 4,150 members and is located on the northwest coast of British Columbia near Prince Rupert.

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Indigenous Nations History

Aaron Gunn, Residential Schools and the Meanings of Genocide

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In a series of tweets between 2019 and 2021, the Conservative candidate for North Island Powell River, Aaron Gunn, argued against the the idea that residential schools were a form of genocide.  In the first of these he agreed that they were ‘truly horrific events,’ but added that people should not refer to them with a loaded word like ‘genocide’ that does not remotely reflect the reality of what happened.” He was wrong, residential schools are a perfect example of genocide.

Mr Gunn’s understanding of the term appears to be limited to ‘killing of a large number of people,’ but when Raphael Lemkin coined the term he stated it wasn’t necessary to kill people. There were also genocides of political and social institutions, culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups.

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Indigenous Nations History

Gits’iis Tribe calls for removal of totem poles outside Prince Rupert’s Civic Centre

By Radha Agarwal, Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Citing a history of cultural faux pas, the Gits’iis Tribe of the Ts’msyen Nation, whose ancestral lands encompass the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre site, is demanding the removal of the three totem poles outside it.

“These poles came [to Prince Rupert]. They had no business being here,” said Guu Gaa Jung (Symbia Barnaby).

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Indigenous Nations

Híɫzaqv leaders take RCMP to court, say police discriminate against the nation’s laws

 IndigiNews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Hereditary and elected leaders of Híɫzaqv Nation are taking the RCMP to court, saying the police force refuses to enforce the nation’s bylaws — including a law expelling drug dealers and sexual offenders from the community.

The lawsuit says this had led to “an atmosphere of fear and lawlessness” on reserve that put members’ safety at risk. 

It further states that the case has broader implications around whether “Canada” respects Híɫzaqv jurisdiction on their own territories.

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