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. 

KUU-US Crisis Line Society has brought on new cultural support workers to assist Indigenous individuals and have expanded their West Coast outreach services to reach more remote communities.

The non-profit registered charity has also added to their advocacy and youth cultural services, in partnership with the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s (NTC) Family and Child Services Department.  

Amid the fray of competing interests from environmentalists, advocacy groups, industry representatives and government agencies, two First Nations claim their inherent rights have been broken with the DFO’s closure of fish farms in the Discovery Islands.

The Wei Wai Kum and Wei Wai Kai Nations have applied for a judicial review of the DFO’s recent decision.

Representatives and specialists covering a variety of wellness issues are available at Maht Mahs for the Tseshaht Health Fair, a free event being held April 20-21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

With booths set up in the large Tseshaht gym, topics covered include pedorthic foot care, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s COVID research project, diabetes, help breathing better for sleep, pharmacy services and approaches to self care.

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act does not “give independent legal force” to its articles, states the province in its defence of a mineral claim system that brings no obligation to consult before mining in a First Nation’s territory.

Thriving in cool water temperatures, kelp forests cover over a quarter of the world's coastlines, with Canada having the longest, says Marissa Ng, Seaforestation Project Coordinator for Ocean Wise. 

Of Canada’s 243,042-kilometre long coastline, British Columbia makes up 25,725.