Category Archives: Indigenous Nations

Indigenous Nations

Food security and community memories are the key ingredients of a new Tla’amin cookbook

IndigiNews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Denise Smith cherishes her childhood memories of her parents harvesting and preparing traditional ɬaʔəmen (Tla’amin) foods — from hunting deer in the forest, to fishing for perch on their territories, and for cod in the ocean.

Though her mother passed away when she was young, Smith remembers her “being that person that was always doing something with food.”

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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.”

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Indigenous Nations, Tourism

Wei Wai Kum Aquire Control Of Campbell River Adventure Tours

Wei Wai Kum First Nation‘s latest business venture is acquiring a majority stake in the Campbell River Adventure Tours Group, which includes Campbell River Whale Watching and Wildcoast Adventures. 

The current owners Stephen Gabrysh and Tyler Bruce will remain partners and oversee day-to-day operations during the transition to full ownership, which is anticipated in the near future.

This acquisition is another step in a broader economic strategy that includes a number of businesses operating within their traditional territory.

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Forests, Indigenous Nations, Tourism

Could shifting gears from forestry to tourism pay the bills?

By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Jordan River, B.C. – At the mouth of Jordan River in Pacheedaht First Nation territory on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, the tide is pushing. Heat from a February sun warms the face as sets of friendly waves roll in under the backdrop of the Olympic Mountains. Parking at the day-use area of this regional park is squeezed on this fine Friday away from the screen. 

A tugboat called Miss Jordan cruises by a bob of surfers, dragging a line of thick rope towards a raft of floating logs, otherwise known as a log boom. Some of the surfers catch a wave towards the cobble shoreline and exit the water.

“They’ll run right over us if we don’t get out of the way,” says a stand-up paddler. 

“But it is a nice day for it,” he concedes.

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

smǝlqmíx leaders emphasize ‘no consent’ as B.C. approves Copper Mountain Mine expansion

By Aaron Hemens, IndigiNews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Indigenous leaders from the Similkameen Valley are “deeply disappointed” by a provincial decision to approve a contentious mine expansion in their territories — emphasizing that they did not give consent for the project to move forward.

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