Feb. 21 was International Mother Language Day and the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) celebrated the occasion by releasing its Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages 2022. Contained in the report is information about revitalization strategies and how they are progressing.

FPCC is a crown corporation launched by the government of B.C. in 1990 to fund, develop and administer programs that assist the province’s First Nations in their efforts to revitalize languages, arts, culture and heritage.

On March 10 a small group from Ditidaht Community School traveled the long bumpy ride from Nitinaht Lake to Port Alberni in their school bus to invite seventh-grade Haahuupayuk School students to their Paddle Days.

CJNY 106.3 FM hit play on Friday March 3 when it launched at Hoobiyee Ts’aamiks Vancouver with a ceremony. Serving Coast Salish and First Nations in B.C., the Vancouver classic rock will feature Indigenous artists, and plans to host several cultural shows. 

To kick off the programming, The Good Medicine Show, hosted by Ashley Pimlott, launched on March 6. With half an hour aimed at health and wellness, this show airs every Monday at 6 p.m. and is rebroadcast on Sundays at 4 p.m.

Since 1992, women have been gathering on Valentines Day in the Downtown Eastside for the women’s memorial walk in honor and remembrance of the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse peoples (MMIWG2S+).

According to the Native Women’s Association of Canada, British Columbia holds the highest number of MMIWG2S+ cases. Of the 582 missing or murdered cases that the NWAC gathered, 160 were in British Columbia, making up 27 per cent of the organization’s database as of 2010.

The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation will be holding an event, called naaʔuu, on various evenings throughout March. Naaʔuu, which is a Nuu-chah-nulth word, translates to “come together” and “feast,” which is exactly what the nation is inviting people to do.

Running in conjunction with the Pacific Rim Whale Festival, naaʔuu will be held at the Best Western Plus Tin Wis Resort in Tofino. The three-hour event will be held in a conference room made to look like a traditional longhouse.

Several Nuu-chah-nulth families are reeling after the sudden deaths of two young men from overdoses of toxic street drugs in Port Alberni over the weekend.

The BC Coroner’s Service confirms that they have been notified of the deaths and is investigating.

Sources say that three men were treated for drug overdoses at an apartment on the 3200 block of Third Avenue in the early morning hours of March 4. One young man was revived with Narcan, the other two could not be saved. One of the deceased males was a father of young children. The other two involved were in their teens.

For Marjorie White of Huu-ay-aht, she was given her traditional name, Nanaahimyis, at a potlatch she hosted for her family in 2010. This Tseshaht name had been passed down in her family maternally for generations and given to the eldest daughter.

At the 2010 potlatch, White’s brother said that it was time for her to take the traditional name, Nanaahimyis, that had belonged to her great-grandmother of Tseshaht.

“To carry that name is an honor and I carry it with pride,” said White. “I carry it with dignity because of where it comes from.”

Regulations that would protect a vast undersea mountain range west of Vancouver Island are currently available for public commenting, a step that brings the biodiverse region closer to being conserved under Canada’s Oceans Act.

With snow falling and temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Celsius, more than 100 walkers faced the cold to walk in the annual Coldest Night of the Year fundraising event on Feb. 25.

This year’s walk raised more than $43,000 for Port Alberni’s Sage Haven Society, which is 124 per cent of their goal.

Sage Haven ExecutiDECve Director Ellen Frood said they are thrilled to have surpassed their fundraising goal.

For the first time in three years, thousands gathered in Vancouver for First Nations performances marking the Nisga’a New Year.

Hoobiyee was held March 3-4 at the Pacific National Exhibition grounds, bringing an estimated 12,000 to watch cultural performances from over a dozen First Nations, including groups from Tseshaht and Ahousaht. The annual event was not held at the PNE since March of 2020, days before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and widespread societal restrictions took hold.