Category Archives: Indigenous Nations

Indigenous Nations

Youth Warriors build community, connections and culture in land-based leadership program

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Half a dozen First Nation youth and a couple of men circled to inspect a dusty truck with a punctured tire that had just limped into their remote camp on west Vancouver Island after a two-hour drive down a logging road. 

The truck’s owner — an adult mentor with the  Nuu-chah-nulth Youth Warriors program — wasn’t entirely sure how to tackle the flat on his own. But he didn’t have to because Raven and Brandon stepped up to learn and do.  

Continue reading Youth Warriors build community, connections and culture in land-based leadership program →
Community, History, Indigenous Nations

Cortes Day: Then and now

The Southern Cortes Community Association (SCCA) estimate 500 people may have turned out for Cortes Day on Saturday, July 15, 2023.

Mike Manson, whose great uncle(1) and grandfather(2) were among the island’s first known European settler, remembers there were once two festivals.

Continue reading Cortes Day: Then and now →
Cost of Climate Change, Indigenous Nations

First Nations’ emergency capacity stressed as wildfire season rages on

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

This year, before students even closed their books for the summer, forest fires sparked throughout the region. 

The Cameron Bluff fire, which is believed to have been human-caused, grew to 229 hectares, closing Highway 4 for most of June – the only highway in and out for many West Coast communities.

One month later, the 16.6-hectare Klanawa River fire was discovered in what Huu-ay-aht Chief Councillor John Jack referred to as the shared territory between his First Nation and Ditidaht.

Continue reading First Nations’ emergency capacity stressed as wildfire season rages on →
Housing, Indigenous Nations

Squamish Nation to use BC residential tenancy protections for own housing developments

By Mina Kerr-Lazenby, North Shore News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) has announced it will adopt the same protections used for rental homes throughout the province for Sen̓áḵw, its high-density project at Kits point, and all future on-reserve housing developments.

Continue reading Squamish Nation to use BC residential tenancy protections for own housing developments →
Indigenous Nations

Canoe journey crosses colonial border, upholding syilx sovereignty: ‘this is still our territory’

By Aaron Hemens, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For the 22nd year in a row, syilx Okanagan people took a canoe journey across the invisible border between “Canada” and the “United States” that divides their territory — challenging a colonial marker that continues to infringe upon their unceded homelands.

Dozens of pullers hauled at least 10 boats, including several dugout canoes, to the shore of nk’mip (Osoyoos Lake) in sw̓iw̓s (Osoyoos) in syilx homelands on Tuesday. The group sailed through the lake’s waters on the way to Oroville, Washington, before returning later in the day. 

Continue reading Canoe journey crosses colonial border, upholding syilx sovereignty: ‘this is still our territory’ →