General

The Tseshaht grassroots members who are blocking the roads at the junction of Gracie Main and Sterling Main to prevent the removal of timber resources from Tseshaht unceded territory met this afternoon to discuss strategy for the upcoming week of protests.

Tseshaht has secured a Monday meeting with British Columbia Timber Sales. BCTS stands accused of allowing the removal of cedar from Nahmint Valley without the consent of Tseshaht, “sloughing off” an agreement to provide an inventory of the remaining cedar in the territory and developing a cedar management plan with the nation.

“Strength from Within”, a sculpture by Tseshaht’s own Connie Watts, was officially unveiled on Oct. 1, life brought into it through a brushing ceremony.

It stands next to the Tseshaht longhouse and on the site of the notorious former Alberni Indian Residential School. It will serve as a constant reminder to all of the horrors that occurred at AIRS over the decades, to honor all who didn’t return to their families, and pay tribute to the resiliency of all those who survived their time there.

At 3 a.m. this morning, a convoy of vehicles left the Tseshaht Administration Building and made its way along a rough logging road to the end of Sproat Lake. By 3:30 a.m., the group had arrived at the junction of Gracie Main and Sterling Main and positioned the vehicles to block any traffic at the site.

About a dozen Tseshaht members quickly went to work, building a fire and setting up a canopy for shelter. A tape of traditional Nuu-chah-nulth songs playing in the background had people singing while they worked.

To the untrained eye, the Grice Bay worksite of the Central Westcoast Forest Society looks wild and green, but clumps of alder tell a tale of an area of forest that was cleared off decades before.

The site, in Tla-o-qui-aht traditional territory, is located near the Long Beach Golf Course in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

Coho Creek feeds into Grice Bay, and true to its name, the creek was once a generous salmon-bearing stream that was of great importance to the Tla-o-qui-aht, but it has been damaged.

The staff of the Nuu-chah-nulth Teechuktl Quu?asa program delivered an information session on traditional teachings to some of the clients of Nuu-chah-nulth Employment Training Program on Sept. 15. The purpose of the session was to provide first nations job seekers with additional tools that will help them succeed.

According to Quu?asa, having knowledge of one’s culture can be a powerful tool as people venture into the outside world.

The staff of Port Alberni Friendship Center hosted a dinner Sept. 16, inviting all community members to a night of socializing with the elders and sharing culture.

According to Shelley Poole, the event was approximately the eighth in a series of gatherings aimed at connecting youth to the elders with culture.

The idea is to build a strong healthy foundation for young aboriginal people through cultural teachings.

The community of Ditidaht First Nation hosted Prince Edward and Princess Sophie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, on Sept. 15 for the opening of a new library and community gathering place.

The Prince and Princess were greeted at their helicopter by Ditidaht royalty, Ha’wilth Paul Tate, his speaker, Phillip Edgar, and elected Chief Jack Thompson.

Western Forest Products (WFP) hosted a dinner Sept. 10 to celebrate the success of two young Nuu-chah-nulth women who completed internship programs with the forestry company and the Nuu-chah-nulth Employment Training Program (NETP).

Invited guests joined Crystal Clappis and Estelle Edgar at The Clam Bucket where they praised the young women for their hard work and success in their summer internship programs.

Earlier this year, NETP put out a call for partners in their upcoming summer internship program.

Travel. Daycare. And level of education.

These are the top barriers to employment for Nuu-chah-nulth young people and the top three issues that the federal Enhanced Service Delivery initiative needs to find solutions to if the pilot program is to succeed.

So says Andy Callicum, manager of the Nuu-chah-nulth Employment and Training Program, who wanted to ensure that MP Mark Strahl heard these three concerns clearly.

Nothing succeeds like success, and that is true of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation’s hydro-electric run-of-river power projects. Just ask Parliamentary Secretary Mark Strahl, who today announced a federal investment of $554,487 in the third of a planned string of run-of-river projects; this one at Winchie Creek.