Category Archives: Indigenous Nations History

Arts, Indigenous Nations History

An Artistic Sacred Journey: The Pacific Northwest’s canoe culture

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A massive canvas canoe adorned with sweeping bold lines of red, black and royal blue swallows up the space around it.

Artist KC Hall has little room to step back and get perspective on his latest work housed in a temporary workshop on Quadra Island a week before Christmas.

Hall, renowned for his synthesis of graffiti, manga and Northwest Coast art, is finishing up a central piece for the Sacred Journey travelling exhibition, slated to launch in Campbell River on Vancouver Island this spring.

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History, Indigenous Nations History, Spirituality

Mass arests at the 1921 Potlatch

By Catherine Lafferty, the Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Almost 100 years ago, while many gathered with family members to exchange Christmas presents, several dozen Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw people were arrested for holding a winter gifting Potlatch of their own.

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Indigenous Nations History, Politics

After almost 170 years: the truth of Indigenous sovereignty.

By Bayleigh Marelj, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Jesse Wente says that there is power in truth-telling moments. And the truth he spoke about on Nov. 25, was the truth of Indigenous sovereignty.

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Indigenous Nations History

Delving into the lives of her First Nations ancestors

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Archeologist Christine Roberts’ work takes her up densely forested mountainsides and down coastal beaches as she delves into the lives of her First Nations ancestors.

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History, Indigenous Nations History, Rivers & Oceans

Quadra Island’s clam gardens

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

British Columbia’s West Coast is a hotbed of activity when it comes to ancient aquaculture. First Nations cultivated clam gardens for millennia along the Pacific coast, modifying coastal beaches to create optimal habitat for the mollusks, boost production and feed their people, research indicates. But Indigenous clam production on Quadra Island ­— located between the B.C. coast and Vancouver Island in the territories of the Laich-Kwil-Tach First Nations and northern Coast Salish — was especially intensive, said researchers Dana Lepofsky and Christine Roberts.

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