With the province seeing 596 deaths due to the toxic drug crisis from January to the end of March, 2023 is only three deaths short of the record breaking year in 2022, which had 599 fatalities over the first three months. Since 2016, when the provincial public health emergency was declared, more than 11,000 lives have been lost.

Drugs across the province have grown increasingly toxic, leaving Nuu-chah-nulth friends, family, and the broader communities grieving the loss of their loved ones.

“Connection is the correction” was the prevailing belief during a gathering at Nitinaht Lake last month, an event held to help the village work through the aftermath of pandemic-era isolation – as well as the ongoing sense of disconnect that the village’s elders attribute to a technologically fixated modern world.

Building more housing for Hupačasath members is a continued priority for the First Nation’s recently re-elected Chief Councillor Brandy Lauder.

Hupačasath First Nation held an election for chief and council in early April, resulting in three new councillors, only seeing Lauder re-elected to serve a second term as chief councillor. 

Lauder, Serena Mayer, Cameron Tatoosh and Leah Wrigley will make up the First Nation’s chief and council for the next two years.

A staffing shortage has been cited as the cause for the indefinite closure of the Ditidaht Community School, although the First Nation hopes to have the facility reopened within the next two weeks.

On Monday, May 1 residents of the small on-reserve community by Nitinaht Lake were informed through the school’s Facebook page that the learning facility would be closed for the day due to a lack of staff.

“We apologize for any inconvenience and hope to open Tuesday, May 2nd,” stated the social media post.

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.