There was a Truth and Reconciliation ceremony at Gorge Harbour on Monday, September 30. It consisted of sacred songs and sharing experiences, as well as Chief Steven Brown’s perspectives on how the Klahoose are reclaiming their present and their future.
Continue reading Truth and Reconciliation Ceremony on Cortes Island
The Cortes Island Academy’s school year is over. Graduation was on January 25. Executive Director, Manda Aufochs Gillespie, just gave Cortes Currents an overview of the 2023/24 semester and a peek into the year that is just about to begin.
“This school year (Sep 2023-Jan 2024), the Cortes Island Academy was a lot of fun. We learned a lot from our first year. So this year we really got to just revel in the model, the awesome kids and local knowledge holders that came out to make this year happen. It felt to me like a lot more fun, and a lot less trailblazing,” she began.
Continue reading The Cortes Island Academy looks ahead to 2024/25 & back at the past year
CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca
The sun was shining on Cortes Island school Friday Sept 29, as the Parent Advisory Committee shared orange T-shirts with all the children. With a new principal, the team and students were busy all month preparing to observe the day of memorial by raising a Residential School Survivors’ flag.
Klahoose Elders visited to share their lived experiences and share song, drumming, and hope. Sisters Rose Hanson and Jessie Louie, joined with singer Brenda Hanson.
Continue reading Raising a flag to remember: Cortes Island School marks Orange Shirt Day
Lives changed because of the Dillon Creek Wetland Restoration.
Project manager Miranda Cross said, “ This project really initiated a whole new life path where I am now working as a wetland restoration professional.”
Monitoring Technician Autumn Barret Morgan studied soundscapes before she came to Cortes Island, but it was at Dillon Creek that she “started really diving into the soundscape” – which she has carried on with the Western Screech Owl Monitoring Project.
Beatrix Baxter has been making films for about 15 years, but she was feeling burned out by the time she moved to Cortes Island. The documentary film Replenish: Bringing Back the Dillon Creek Wetland is both a chronicle of the project, and part of a personal transformation.
“I’m pretty choosy about the projects I take on these days. I just really want to choose projects that are going to be quite meaningful to me and to the world,” she explained.
Continue reading Filming Dillon Creek, more than just a wetland restorationthe Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Community nurse in Klahoose First Nation, Heather Jansen says she wouldn’t offer vaccines to people unless she felt good about it.
“I’m always reading and looking into the vaccines I give. That’s my responsibility as a vaccinator, working in First Nations Community Health,” Jansen says.
Continue reading Update from the Klahoose village
