Officials with the Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Development Corporation (NEDC) can now start assisting some businesses with grand and costly plans.

Established in 1984, the NEDC is an Aboriginal Financial Institution (AFI) which has been providing loans to small- and medium-sized Indigenous businesses throughout Vancouver Island.

Earlier this month it was announced that $10 million had been advanced to the NEDC through the Indigenous Growth Fund (IGF), a new initiative created and managed by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA).

The Nuchatlaht’s fight to gain Aboriginal title over the northern half of Nootka Island is expected to be in the B.C. Supreme Court for months.

But the trial doesn’t have to take that long if the court looks at the groundwork set out by the Tsilhqot’in Nation decision in 2014, says the Nuchatlaht’s legal team.

Almost every aspect of Nuu-chah-nulth life was enriched through whaling, said Huu-ay-aht Hereditary Whaling Chief Tom Mexsis Happynook.

“It strengthened our community’s economic structure by providing very valuable products to sell, trade, and barter,” he said. “It strengthened our relationships with other communities because it brought people from all around the Pacific Northwest, which often resulted in intertribal relationships and marriages … and finally, it strengthened our people physically and mentally because of the nutritional value of the whale.”

Through a grey, misty spring day a burst of vibrantly colored balloons float to the heavens as family and friends gathered for a candlelight vigil to remember Dontay Lucas, the six-year-old Hesquiaht and Ahousaht boy who succumbed to injuries at a family member’s home on March 22, 2018.

NTC Vice-President Mariah Charleson told the crowd that she knew Dontay and spent time with him at an event in Hesquiaht not long before he died. Known for his brilliant, happy smile, Charleson recalled being with him on the beach, entertaining him by turning over rocks so find hermit crabs.

Two Nuu-chah-nulth mothers are fighting for their sons to break free from drug addiction – but supports are not as accessible as they would hope.

Jackie Dennis of Huu-ay-aht had to wait more than a month to get her heroin-addicted son an online doctor`s appointment so that he could get on a methadone program. Without methadone her son would suffer terrible withdrawal pain and craving - or go back to using heroin. She was fortunate enough to find a friend of his that shared methadone as they continue to wait to get on the program.

On Jan. 20, 2017 the late Nuchatlaht Tyee Ha’wilth Walter Michael stood before the B.C. Supreme Court, declaring his small First Nation’s efforts to seek rights and title over land they had called home for thousands of years.

More than five years after that statement of claim was filed, his son Jordan Michael, who now holds the head hereditary seat for the Nuchatlaht, stood on the same steps this morning. It’s the first day of a trial to determine the First Nation’s Aboriginal title over its traditional territory on the northern part of Nootka Island.

Ahousaht Ha’wiih (hereditary chiefs) are working hard to address social issues in the village caused by alcoholism - including asking Tofino council to pass a bylaw that would limit the sales of hard liquor to two 26 oz. bottles per person.

“There have been 65 deaths in two years and about 90 per cent of those are due to liver failure (or other alcohol-related causes),” said Hasheukumiss, acting Ahousaht Tyee Ha’wilth (head chief) for his father Maquinna.

Add to that the domestic violence, drunk driving, sexual assaults and other attacks happening to young people.

A group of Indigenous outreach workers invited the downtown Victoria community to their first-ever seafood feast at the Downtown Community Center on March 16 on Pandora Street.

Co-organizer Herb Dick of Ahousaht joined other service organizations to put the feast together - not only to feed the people, but also to deliver services to at-risk guests.

As part of the Tseshaht First Nation’s larger ʔuuʔatumin yaqckwiimitqin (Doing it for our Ancestors) initiative, memorial items were removed from the bridge over the Somass River on Wednesday.

In a statement from the First Nation, the Tseshaht referenced how it is working to deal with the legacy of having a residential school in its community for most of a century.

Federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray has signalled clear intent to follow through on Ottawa’s commitment to remove open net pen salmon farms when a slew of licences expires in June.

“The objective is a strong aquaculture economy on the coast of B.C., but the protection of wild salmon is imperative,” Murray said last week while releasing What We Heard, public input on the Liberal government’s Blue Economy Strategy.