By Roy L Hales
I probably first heard his Klahoose language program sometime between 2010 and 2013. We were already on Cortes and the radio was always tuned to CKTZ. By the time you hear this, he will have returned home from another teaching venue. Norm Harry was the eldest speaker for the ɬəʔamɛn, or Klahoose, Nation. The ɬəʔamɛn and three other Northern Coast Salish nations recently came together for an event called Speaking Our Language.
Continue reading Speaking Our LanguageIn the summer of 2016, a subsidiary of one of the world’s leading aggregate companies announced it was about to commence exploratory surface drilling in the Lloyd Creek Area of Desolation Sound. This is in close proximity to the region’s foremost kayak and boating area and, consequently, brings a substantial income to local businesses. Had the venture gone forward, one of the regions few remaining old growth forests would have been cut down, an important fish bearing creek would have been devastated and a number of important indigenous sites would have been threatened. Lehigh Hanson Materials abandoned its application, but local author Judith Williams talks about a new threat to Desolation Sound.
Continue reading New Threat To Desolation SoundBy 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.
Continue reading Klahoose Nation The Latest VictimsOriginally 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.”
Continue reading We’re Much More Than What We EatOriginally 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.
Continue reading Jessie Louie: Language Warrior
