President Deb Foxcroft and Vice President Ken Watts of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council presented Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a woven cedar Whaler's Hat during a gathering of chiefs held in Gatineau, Que. today.
Update 10 a.m. Dec. 8.
From Tseshaht Chief Councillor Hugh Braker: We have just finished a 10 conference call with all agencies. The flood danger has passed. The Somass will be downgraded to a high stream advisory. Tseshaht Emerg. Management office is standing down.
Last night's storm went north. The rain here was 1/2 of predicted rain. The Ash River has fallen significantly. The Sproat River has stabalized and even fallen a bit.
All flood warnings for Tseshaht are lifted.
Original story:
Guests of Ahousaht’s Charlie family gathered at the Esquimalt Longhouse on Nov. 28 to witness an historic event; the transfer of a chieftainship from father to son.
Chief Hanuquii Edgar Charlie said he has serious health issues and would normally have hosted his potlatch in home territory at Ahousaht, but his failing health requires that he stay in Victoria. The Chief of Esquimalt, Sinopun (Andy Thomas) was allowed the Charlies to conduct their very important business in his nation’s long house.
The Port Alberni Build My Business Together program wrapped up on Dec. 1 at the Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Development Corporation office.
The program offered a series of 12 workshops with instructor Jay Silverberg, in partnership with the NEDC. A similar series recently wrapped up in Campbell River.
On Tuesday, five attendees, representing one existing business and two in development, were on hand to receive their certificates.
“Nationally, one out of seven children lives in poverty. That goes up to one out of three in the Alberni Valley. That is not acceptable.” ~NDP MP Gord Johns
Port Alberni--Nuu-chah-nulth members spoke up and they spoke loudly when the presenters opened up for floor for discussion at the Poverty Forum held Nov. 24 at the Port Alberni Friendship Centre.
~ B.C. is the only one of 10 provinces that does not have a child poverty plan in place
~ One out of five B.C. children lives in poverty
~ The poverty rate in the Alberni Valley] is 18.5 per cent, 26 per cent higher than the national average
The experts delivered the message with statistics and Nuu-chah-nulth members stood up to confirm it: “Yes. Poverty is debilitating and degrading and it causes long-term health effects. And we are the living proof.”
Members of the Tatoosh family joined some long-time maritime history buffs to unravel the history of the little boom boat that bears their name.
On Nov. 26, the Port Alberni Maritime Heritage Society hosted a Maritime Heritage Night at the Hutcheson Gallery to introduce their latest display, the Tatoosh II, which, according to the family of a past owner, was named for the late Hupacasath musician and cultural teacher Edward “Tat” Tatoosh.
A small dog sleeping on a porch bench was snatched by a wolf in the early morning hours of Nov. 25 in Ahousaht. Leon Titian, 28, was up late watching movies when he heard activity on the porch. He raised the window blind to see a wolf standing at the top step of the two-storey flight of stairs.
“There was no barking. I just saw a fricking huge wolf at the top of the stairs and it just snatched our dog off of the bench,” said Leon.
Students at Haahuupayak School got a hands-on lesson on our solar system thanks to a visiting scientist from the National Research Council of Canada.
The visit took place on Nov. 24, and came through the Scientists and Inventors in the Schools program, said principal Gio Musatto.
“We had the Science World program come by on their tour,” Musatto explained. “I wrote them a letter to thank them for coming, and they told me they had a program on the Solar System. I said, ‘Come on over.’”
Ahousaht Chief Councillor Greg Louie said he is relieved to hear that the body of the young Australian tourist Raveshan Morgan Pillay has been recovered at Vargas Island near Tofino. He said he’s sure the family will now be at peace knowing that their son, brother and boyfriend will be returning home.