The ADSS senior boys basketball team have taken home the Totem championship after rallying together to beat the defending champs, Carihi.
At the start of the final quarter on Jan. 7 the two teams were tied, and the Alberni District Secondary School team took to the court determined. As the minutes went on the crowd grew with intensity, alternating between cheering and chanting, as the two teams battled for the win.
The ADSS senior girls basketball team took home third place at their Totem tournament, after giving it their all.
“The girls played hard,” said Steve Sperger, coach of the Alberni District Secondary senior girls basketball team, reflecting on the Jan. 6 game against Belmont. “They worked all game long, gave their best effort. And that's all I can ask really, as a coach.”
Sperger said that the team is disappointed. They had won the Totem title last year, and aimed to win it again, he continued.
The NTC Society Members will conduct an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council be held on February 22, 2023 (Changed from February 1, 2023), for the purpose of electing a Vice President of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council to serve a term from by-election date to the September 2025 NTC Annual General Meeting. Virtual Meeting: 9 am to 12 noon
The Vice President is responsible for “national” issues, which are those issues internal to the NTC (e.g. First Nation communities, NTC board and committees.)
Over the coming months the Senate is tasked with finalizing legislation that pledges to hold the federal government accountable in improving Canada’s relationship with its Indigenous peoples.
But the day after Bill C-29 was unanimously passed by the House of Commons, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami withdrew support for the legislation, while another national organization advocating for off-reserve Indigenous people stands against the act.
Canadian wilderness organizations are commending the B.C. government for committing to protecting 30 per cent of lands in the province by 2030, including through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).
The government’s commitment would double what is currently protected in legislated areas in B.C.
British Columbia is the second province in the country to make this commitment.
There will be no bus service between Port Alberni and the west coast communities of Tofino and Ucluelet from January to May 2023.
A statement on the Vancouver Island Connector website reads:
“To our Valued Customers, after much consideration, we regret to inform you that the Tofino Bus and Vancouver Island Connector, will be pausing services on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023, and will not resume services again until May 2023 as we look to move towards a more seasonal service.”
With the aim of thinning out the commercial fishing fleet to lessen its strain on threatened salmon stocks, the DFO has announced another round of licence buy backs, including an upcoming program that encourages First Nations’ communal operations to transition to other species of fish.
For Alberni District Secondary School, Totem is an annual basketball tournament that rallies ADSS and the broader community together with school spirit.
In the running for Totem Spirit, a competition that reflects school spirit, is Sophia Bill of Tseshaht First Nation. Bill is a Grade 12 student at ADSS and a member of the dance team.
A review of the province’s handling of the pandemic has painted a positive picture, but the recent report also notes that relations with First Nations could have been better as the government dealt with COVID-19.
The Alberni District Secondary School senior boys’ basketball team is jumping into Totem 67 revived after two years of cancellations and postponing of the tournament due to the pandemic.
The team is bringing a new spark with them to this season and Totem 67.
“I think the biggest thing is just the return to the full experience,” said coach Craig Brooks, the senior boys’ basketball coach of approximately six years. “We have some players returning this year that didn't get a chance to experience the band and a full packed house, and all the energy that comes with that,”