Category Archives: Indigenous Nations History

Indigenous Nations History

Nisg̱a’a joyful as they prepare for return of totem pole

Trends to watch, inspirational

Windspeaker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The House of Ni’isjoohl and its community in northern British Columbia are joyfully preparing to welcome home their memorial pole, which has been in the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh for 94 years.

In an act expressing its commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the National Museum of Scotland announced the return of the pole last December. Although the United Kingdom may think of it as a repatriation of an Indigenous artifact, for the Nisg̱a’a it is a rematriation.

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Indigenous Nations, Indigenous Nations History

Indigenous paddlers push off on powerful voyage to reclaim canoe culture across Pacific Northwest

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A flotilla of Indigenous canoes a hundred strong is converging along the Pacific Northwest as nations from Canada, the U.S. and beyond paddle hundreds of kilometres in pursuit of shared objectives and a common destination. 

Paddlers from eight different canoes were hosted, fed and sheltered by the Stz’uminus First Nation near Ladysmith on Vancouver Island before launching Thursday on their first leg of the Tribal Journey, said Michelle Robinson, a member of the Klahoose Nation’s Tl’emtl’ems canoe family. 

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History, Indigenous Nations History

How Whaletown got its name

Lynne Jordan, former President of the Cortes Island Museum, is writing a history of Whaletown. Her manuscript is already 300 pages long. In the first of a series of interviews about her research, Jordan describes the history behind Whaletown’s name.

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Arts, Indigenous Nations History

Residential school memorial pole will make stops on Vancouver Island before installation in Vancouver

Windspeaker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A blackened column carved with children’s faces, representing lives lost at Indian residential schools, has been created by acclaimed Kwakwuitl carver Stanley Hunt.

The pole will soon travel through Vancouver Island, beginning June 16, making its way to the installation place in Vancouver on Indigenous People’s Day, June 21.

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Indigenous Nations History

Construction underway at Tse’K’wa heritage site

By Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Development and preservation of the Tse’K’wa national historic cave site at Charlie Lake is continuing to grow with the installation of new interpretive signage and more.

Tse’K’wa Heritage Society Executive Director Alyssa Currie says she’s excited to share the signage and is aiming to reopen to the public sometime in June. The signs will act as a self-guided tour for patrons.

“Each sign encapsulates a different Dunne-za teaching, as well as an archaeological artifact found at the site. So, it gives our visitors a chance to walk the landscape that has been occupied by the ancestors of the Dunne-za and to hear about the significance of that landscape from their perspective,” said Currie.

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