In mid September Tseshaht and Hupacasath fishers were casting their nets in the Somass River, taking advantage of the last days of a large chinook salmon run.

In recent years Fisheries and Oceans Canada has stressed the growing challenges facing Pacific salmon. The department’s 2019 State of the Canadian Pacific Salmon report stressed the environmental impacts of a warming climate on the fish, which normally thrive in cooler waters. The report stated that chinook are declining throughout their range, while some southern B.C. sockeye populations face imminent extinction.

Vancouver Island University (VIU) hosted its annual All-Nations feast at the Nanaimo campus yesterday, featuring dancers and speakers from the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, Métis, and Coast Salish, representing all four Indigenous groups from the Island.

Jennifer Christofferson is an Education Advisor in Services for Aboriginal Students, who says that after this many years, organizing the event is like a well-oiled machine.

Plans to build a tiny house village on lower 4th Avenue have been delayed due to planning and approval processes, according to Port Alberni Friendship Center Executive Director Cyndi Stevens. There have also been unforeseen cost overruns that are concerning to the PAFC executive director.

The City of Port Alberni announced that it is moving ahead with plans to provide better homes to people living in run-down trailers on 4th Avenue, known locally as “The Ghetto”. They partnered with BC Housing and the Port Alberni Friendship Centre to provide a safer housing alternative.

It’s been nearly a year since Agnes Jack, a Mowachaht/Muchalaht grandmother, lost her 38-year-old daughter she affectionately called Queen. Melissa Jack died Oct. 7, 2021, leaving behind her mother, two children and spouse.

So, Agnes was excited when she was able to arrange to have a proper stone placed on her daughter’s grave at Alberni Valley Memorial Gardens.

August 31, 2022 marks the 21st annual International Overdose Awareness Day. Few people knew about it, but considering the worldwide illicit drug epidemic and the lives lost, awareness is gaining.

Coincidentally, it is also a significant day for Ditidaht’s Jolene Joe, 41, who recently celebrated her first year of sobriety.

A pair of 36-foot fibreglass canoes purchased by Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services in 2021 have been officially named and decorated with Nuu-chah-nulth art, as they are now available to help children in care stay connected with their culture. The canoes were unveiled at a Sept. 8 Usma open house held at their 6th Avenue location.

Dry and hot conditions on British Columbia's West Coast have prompted the government to increase the drought level in the region to Level 3.

The areas that have risen to Drought Level 3 conditions are eastern Vancouver Island, western Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii. The high temperatures, consistent sunshine and lack of recent rain have increased water temperatures in numerous Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii streams.