Tag Archives: Klahoose First Nation

Klahoose Nation The Latest Victims

By Roy L Hales

The damages caused by what appears to be a slipshod legal petition, that fourteen Cortes Island residents filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on January 2, 2019, continue to spread. One of the first casualties were the two referenda, for First Responder funding and a Community Hall Service tax, which had once been tentatively scheduled for Saturday, February 16, 2019. Though Cortes Island is in the midst of a comprehensive zoning bylaw review and on the verge of updating cannabis legislation, it still does not have an Advisory Planning Commission. This body was to have been appointed at the January 24, 2019, Strathcona Regional District Board meeting, but the decision was deferred “until the implications of the legal petition filed by Cortes constituents is fully understood by the Board.” Regional Director Noba Anderson submitted a revised list of candidates at the March 13 session, but the Board is still hesitant. The Klahoose Nation are the latest victims of this petition.

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Why Re-elect George Sirk As Regional Director?

By Roy L Hales

In my second interview with the candidates for Cortes Island’s Regional Director, I became aware that they have a very different vision of how the island should be governed. The current Director, Noba Anderson, portrays herself as an instigator, who “convenes conversations that would not otherwise happen.” Many of the island’s best known projects came about through her direct intervention. Though George Sirk chalked up a similar list of accomplishments during the nine years he represented the island (1996 – 2005), he stresses the idea that there should be more of a separation between the Regional Director and specific business projects. In this morning’s episode, I ask, why re-elect George Sirk as Regional Director? 

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We’re Much More Than What We Eat

Originally Published on Cortes Radio.ca as part of the Deep Roots Initiative, Season Two

Recent research and long held traditions around health and food have challenged conventional practices of making available and promoting high carbohydrate, sugary, processed foods for convenience and economy. Some studies now conclude that animal fats have more to do with maintaining good health than eating the previously recommended low fat diet. Traditional Indigenous diets clearly show how eating from one’s own environment suits our overall well being and health. The experiences of our ancestors also has been shown to inform our own genetics, affecting our present day to day life. In this episode of Deep Roots Island Waves, Producer Manda Aufochs Gillespie links place, food, genetic history and health for insight into possibilities for understanding how we’re much more than we eat.”

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Jessie Louie: Language Warrior

Originally Published on Cortes Radio.ca, as part of the Deep Roots Initiative, Season Two

Language Warrior is a story about Jessie Louie, and her life’s work preserving and revitalizing ʔayʔaǰuθəm a distinct dialect of Northern Salishan. Jessie knows the value of reclaiming language as a source of strength; a treasure to preserve, and a key to survival.

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