The streets of Port Alberni once again turned orange today, marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, but this year brought a particularly significant occasion for the community.
It was on Aug. 31, 1973 when the Alberni Indian Residential School (AIRS), on Tseshaht’s main reserve, closed its doors for good.
Charlie Thompson, a survivor of AIRS, recalls when the West Coast District Council of Indian Chiefs began to discuss the closure of the school in 1972. Thompson was working as a band manager for Ditidaht and attended meetings with his father, Webster Thompson, who was the First Nation’s elected chief councillor at that time.
Roughly six hundred students gathered outside ADSS on Sept. 28, where the residential school survivors' flag flew for the first time, while the Canadian flag rose from half mast to full.
For School District 70 (SD 70), the survivors flag now has a permanent home among their schools.
“This flag will be here for eternity,” said Tim Davie, SD 70 superintendent, “recognizing the work that’s also taking place in terms of moving forward and reconciliation across the district.”
With a gathering emphasizing Nuu-chah-nulth culture, this year an annual welcome dinner for Grade 8 students was opened up to all newcomers to the Alberni District Secondary School.
On Sept. 28 hundreds filled the ADSS’s lower atrium, as a circle began the event by singing Nuu-chah-nulth songs under one of the school’s totem poles. As hot dogs were barbequed outside, all present were also treated to a full dinner of potato salad, bannock, salmon and halibut.
A brand-new wooden shed sits empty, next to Tim Paul’s historic language pole in Millstone Park, at the corner of Roger Street and Victoria Quay in Port Alberni. The shed is a gift, donated by The San Group, a forest products corporation with facilities on the Lower Mainland and in Port Alberni.
Worth an estimated $90,000, the shed was built and donated to support the efforts master artist Tim Paul is making to assist in the revival of Nuu-chah-nulth language and culture, according to Kevin Somerville of The San Group.
After a summer of severe drought, Vancouver Island went from one extreme to another this week with the first storm of the autumn.
But despite the late September downour that hit the West Coast - brought by what meteorologists called a ‘bomb cyclone’ - after a year of lower-than-normal precipitation some are reluctant to say the drought is over.
A new tourism fee program is being investigated by the Huu-ay-aht First Nations that would support the development of ecological and cultural stewardship in the Bamfield and Anacla area.
The potential project is in collaboration with the Island Coast Economic Trust and inspired by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation’s successful Tribal Parks Allies program launched in 2018.
On Sunday, Sept. 24, communities all over B.C. came together to celebrate their rivers. For Port Alberni, a shuttle ran between Stamp River Provincial Park, where people could view salmon pooling and bears feeding, and Beaver Creek Community Club where community organizations prepared educational activities for the youth.
As the rain poured down on Sept. 25, Wally Samuel, Tom Watts, and Geraldine Edgar-Tom, residential school survivors, raised the bright orange flag of reconciliation to half mast in front of the Port Alberni City Hall. This is one of many flag raising ceremonies happening this week in recognition of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.
“I’m really proud to be part of this,” said Samuel. “I'm proud that people are listening and believing us and willing to work together for [the] future of our community and our people.”
As Sept. 30, Orange Shirt Day approaches, Tseshaht First Nation hosted the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and Junior B Port Alberni Bombers Hockey Club to teach them about their territory, values, principles, and the history of the Alberni Indian Residential School.
When Wacey Rabbitt of Kainai First Nation in Treaty Seven territory moved to Port Alberni three years ago, it was to start his career as he joined the Junior A Alberni Valley Bulldogs as assistant coach.