The Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation has announced new funding to support First Nations’ participation implementing the Declaration Act.

"Across government, engagement is actively underway with First Nations on the Declaration Act," said Premier David Eby on April 27. "We have heard directly from nations on the vital need for financial resources to support consultation and co-operation on action plan items and legislative transformation."

Tseshaht First Nation is expected to soon have major savings on its energy bills thanks to some substantial funding from the provincial government.

It was officially announced in late April that the B.C. government would provide $500,000 to Tseshaht so that the First Nation could install a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system at the local building, which includes its administration offices as well as a health centre.

Tseshaht First Nation’s Chief Councillor Ken Watts said the building’s current system has a heat pump that is outdated.

The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council is conducting a research project that they hope will document the Nuu-chah-nulth experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, both in the health care system and within First Nation communities.

“The NTC directors wanted to document the Nuu-chah-nulth experience around the vaccine and the pandemic,” said NTC Health Director, Lynnette Lucas, in May 2022, when the study was in its early stages.

At 8:30 a.m. on Thursday April 27 the Alberni Athletic Hall was loud with the buzz of dozens of employers setting up their tables in hopes to reach new employees. Nuu-chah-nulth Employment and Training Program has partnered with Alberni Valley Employment Center/Work BC for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic in setting up this career fair.

During his lunch break, Robert Cluett sits back in a lawn chair in the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s parking lot. With closed eyes, the 70-year-old tilts his head back, catching a springtime sun. After a long, rain-filled Vancouver Island winter, the few rays that break through the clouds illuminate the white in Cluett’s thick, carefully trimmed beard.

“I’ve always had the patience of a crocodile,” reflects the native of Trout River, Newfoundland, a Maritime accent still very much apparent despite his 30 years on Canada’s West Coast.

Huu-ay-aht is the proud new majority owner of a Port Alberni-based manufacturing business that creates wooden tiles for use in finishing homes and commercial spaces. TimberTiles is a specially manufactured product made from wood that is less desired in the construction market, in this case, hemlock.

According to Mark Anson, CEO of HFN Timber Tiles LP, the product started with a scientific understanding of wood.

Gravel is being laid on the last stretch of road at the 15.5 to 24-kilometre mark of the Bamfield Main and is expected to be complete by the end of April. According to Uyaqḥmis, the Huu-ay-aht First Nation’s newsletter, all of the ditching and culvert work is complete and the project is on schedule.

Negotiations are underway for a contractor to complete the 76.6 kilmetres of seal coat, which is expected to be complete by August.

The North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) will be taking place in July, held in host city Halifax, and this year two teens from the Nuu-Chah-Nulth area will be taking part.

Jamie-Leigh Lucas and Hayleigh Watts of Port Alberni have been selected for 16U Team BC Softball roster, following tryouts across the province. 

The NAIG has a storied history that can be traced back as far as 1971, when the first Native Summer Games was held in Alberta. The NAIG as we know it now was first held in 1990.

When Wishkey, a story-teller from Huu-ay-aht, was a teenager he witnessed his father, Robert Dennis Sr, compose a song about connection.

For many years Huu-ay-aht had been were living with the aftermath of clear cutting in their territory in the 1950’s, said Wishkey. After decades of impact, he recalls 1984 was the first time they had a big run of salmon.

He was sitting with his grandfather, who asked him, “What do you see?”

“I see eagles - eagles everywhere,” replied Wishkey. “They’re at the river, they’re in the trees, [and] they’re in the sky.”

Since March seven signs of Lisa Marie Young placed in Nanaimo have gone missing.

“It’s…hurtful and really disrespectful to Lisa and our family, and her friends,” said Carol Frank, Tla-o-qui-aht member and aunt to Lisa Marie Young. “It’s really disappointing because [of] the effort that went into getting the signs.”

After the first sign went missing in March, a donation came through from the Lisa Marie Young group to make a new sign, which was also stolen. 

Most recently, the last sign was stolen between April 16 and 18.