Tag Archives: qathet History

History

IWD & Memories of the mill: One Woman’s Work

By Ruth Perfitt, originally published on qathet Living

You might say I worked in my Grandfather’s footsteps. My maternal Grandfather, Ray Olsen, was one of the first employees at the mill. The family lived around Powell Lake (Olsen’s Valley) and he started with the mill in the grinder rooms. He and another fellow would travel by boat from Olsen’s Landing down to the mill, often staying the week in town at a place on Poplar Street and rowing back up on weekends bringing supplies for the family.

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Rivers & Oceans

Where to find qathet’s Ghost Salmon

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dam building over the last century destroyed all of qathet’s major salmon runs, and several small ones, too. Just a whisper remains of this region’s once-majestic returns.

Local experts are re-imagining these rivers for the future. For salmon. For ecosystems. And for reconciliation.

Standing on the rocky banks of the Powell River, you can see zero salmon. But 100 years ago, before the mill, you would have seen thousands.

These are the ghost salmon.

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History, Rivers & Oceans

Dammed for 100 years

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s been a century since sockeye and chum have spawned in Unwin Lake. That’s because the creek between Desolation Sound and Unwin was dammed for logging.

Now, Tla’amin Nation’s new lands and resources director, Denise Smith, is spearheading a project to reintroduce the salmon.

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Arts, Indigenous Nations History

Beyond Beads

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Beading helps share knowledge, good laughs, and support for each other through hard times. That’s why beading is important to me, as both an art, and community-centred experience.”

So explains Klahoose and Tla’amin Nation member Emily White, who’s contemporary beading designs are pushing the boundaries of the traditional art form (see left). The 24-year-old Tla’amin Nation intergovernmental policy and fiscal analyst learned to bead in 2018 from the Elders in Residence at the University of Victoria – over many lunchtimes as she was completing her degree in Indigenous Studies and ethics. She especially credits Métis Elder Barb Hulme.

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Indigenous Nations History

Tla’amin: Better museums; better history

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In the movement to decolonize BC’s museums, one of the most accomplished professionals is a member of Tla’amin Nation: Siemthlut (Michelle Washington.)

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