Category Archives: Indigenous Nations History

Arts, Indigenous Nations History

NameSake: A filmed Journey towards Recognition, Reconciliation and Place

Leave a comment

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. 

Continue reading NameSake: A filmed Journey towards Recognition, Reconciliation and Place →
Indigenous Nations, Indigenous Nations History

Folk U: Chief Kevin Peacey on Politics, Projects & the Past (Part 1)

Interview by Manda Aufochs Gillespie; written version by Roy L Hales  

On Friday, May 29, 2026, Chief Kevin Peacey of the Klahoose First Nation came to the Cortes Radio station, where he was interviewed by Manda Aufochs Gillespie. This is a highly edited and abridged transcript of that program.

In part one: Kevin talks about the Klahoose population, housing, the new cultural centre, the chief and council, canoe journeys and community activities.

Manda: “Cortes Community Radio sits on the ancestral and territorial lands of the Klahoose, Tla’amin, and perhaps the Homalco peoples. I’d like to thank this land, these people who have walked this land through time, and all those who continue to love and work to honour this place we call home. Today, we are very lucky to have our neighbour and leader of the Klahoose First Nation join us in the studio. Chief Kevin Peacey, thank you so much for being here.”

Kevin: “Thank you for having me.”

Continue reading Folk U: Chief Kevin Peacey on Politics, Projects & the Past (Part 1) →
Indigenous Nations History

Fishing net defies time, resurfaces 2,000 years later in Tsawwassen

By Radha Agarwal, Delta Optimist, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A rare 2,000-year-old fishing net unearthed in Tsawwassen is undergoing conservation at the First Nation’s repository, providing a window into the coastal life that flourished in the region millennia ago.

“It really highlights the deep cultural importance of fishing for our people. It’s a privilege to be able to care for and hold a piece of our ancestors’ history and perpetuity,” said Tia Williams, Archaeology Coordinator at the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN).

Continue reading Fishing net defies time, resurfaces 2,000 years later in Tsawwassen →
Indigenous Nations History

Hots Docs to screen film documenting endeavour to change “horrific” city name

By Sam Laskaris, Windspeaker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A documentary about a First Nation’s request to have the name of Powell River, B.C. changed will have its world debut at Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival this month.

The film, titled təm kʷaθ nan – Namesake, features interviews with members of the Tla’amin Nation, who have spent years attempting to get the name of its neighbouring city altered. According to Tla’amin belief, as stated in the film’s trailer, names carry history, teachings and responsibilities. Powell River gets its name from Israel Wood Powell, who served as B.C.’s superintendent of Indian Affairs for 17 years from 1872 to 1889.

Powell played a key role in the establishment of Indian residential schools. He also had a role in banning the potlach and in the theft of portions of Tla’amin Nation lands.

Continue reading Hots Docs to screen film documenting endeavour to change “horrific” city name →
Indigenous Nations History

RCMP ordered to pay damages for failing to investigate Catholic school abuse claims

By Bob Mackin, Prince George Citizen Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) decided March 2 that the RCMP discriminated against Indigenous people who accused the Mounties of failing to properly investigate claims they were abused at Catholic-run Immaculata Elementary School in Burns Lake and Prince George College in the 1960s and 1970s.

“Accommodating the Indigenous crime complainants by ensuring they were told that they could report allegations of abuse, be given an update about the outcome of the investigation into their allegations of abuse, and not be repeatedly offered a polygraph would not have interfered with the RCMP’s duty to conduct its investigations in the public interest,” CHRT member Colleen Harrington wrote in the 145-page decision, which was originally expected in early 2025.

Harrington ruled, on a balance of probabilities, that race and national or ethnic origin were factors in “some of the adverse differential treatment or denial of service that was experienced by some of the complainants and their witnesses in relation to the RCMP’s investigations.”

Continue reading RCMP ordered to pay damages for failing to investigate Catholic school abuse claims →