The discovery this year of hundreds of unmarked graves at several former residential school sites has sent many survivors back to the traumatic past of their childhood. As many First Nations prepare to follow the lead set by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc in Kamloops, those who work closely with former residential school students expect that the need to enable healing will continue for some time to come.

“It’s going to be big when searches happen in our territory,” said Ruby Ambrose, a regional coordinator with Teechuktl Mental Health. “We need to be prepared.”

When 109 shipping containers were knocked from a cargo ship traveling through rough seas off the coast of Vancouver Island on Oct. 22, coastal communities and Indigenous leaders were largely left in the dark. 

Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) President Judith Sayers raised concerns over the lack of communication with the 14 Nuu-chah-nulth nations along the coast who may be impacted by the spill for years to come. 

Eunice Joe is accustomed to helping serve others.

But it was Joe, who is serving her third term as a Tseshaht First Nation councillor, who was in the spotlight recently.

An event in Joe’s honour was co-hosted in late October by the Tseshaht First Nation and the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), in part to recognize her educational pursuits as well as her current employment.

A cable-laying ship will soon begin to install high-speed fibre optics infrastructure along B.C.’s coast.

Announced in 2018, the $45.4 million Connected Coast project is bringing high-speed internet to around 139 rural and remote coastal communities, including 48 Indigenous communities. 

Denise Martineau believes an ever-changing world has proven to be extremely beneficial for Indigenous business owners.

Martineau, a business development officer with the Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Development Corporation, was among the panelists this past week at an online event titled Investing In Indigenous Economies.

The event, held on Nov. 9, was part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, which began on Nov. 8 and continued until Nov. 14.

The weeklong celebration is the world’s largest honouring of innovators and job creators who launch businesses.

Exhibits are coming down and artifacts placed in storage as the provincial museum in Victoria prepares to “decolonize” its three core galleries, a move drawing applause and criticism.

Visitors have until Dec. 31 to see the First People’s and Becoming B.C. galleries along with Our Living Languages: First Peoples Voices in BC at Royal B.C. Museum (RBCM).

When a Tofino Air floatplane struck an Ahousaht First Nation water taxi in the Tofino Harbour on Oct. 18, vessel operators started raising questions over the lack of regulation in the open water.

The incident triggered Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) President Judith Sayers, who was inside an Atleo Air floatplane that flipped after hitting a sandbar upon takeoff in the harbour less than three months prior. 

“I still have a couple of physical injuries that I'm working through,” she said. “It was a very traumatic experience to have to go through.”

In early November, Hesquiaht First Nation turned off the diesel generator that normally powers their entire community at Hot Springs Cove, off the west coast of Vancouver Island. 

It was the first time the nation ran solely on green energy, which was made possible by the Ah'ta'apq Creek Hydropower Project.

“It was extremely exciting for us,” said Hesquiaht First Nation Elected Chief Joshua Charleson. “It’s exactly what we wanted.”

Widely championed by the late-chief Richard Lucas, the project has been over 10 years in the making.

This winter, the Province of British Columbia is providing more than 1,900 temporary shelter spaces and nearly 360 extreme weather response shelter spaces to ensure people experiencing homelessness have a warm place to sleep and can get out of the cold and rain.

These emergency shelters supplement more than 2,250 permanent year-round shelter spaces open throughout B.C.

The temporary shelters will be open every night during the season, many of them 24/7, with meals provided. Some have already opened, with more opening this month and later this season.

Benedict David has always felt an affinity towards the ocean. Born in a “little hole in the wall” cabin on Nootka Island, the surrounding Pacific waters were like his playground. 

He spent his childhood on Meares Island, off the coast of Vancouver Island, living in the remote Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation village of Opitsaht. 

David has vivid memories of trailing behind his mother through the forest to pick blackberries. 

“We were free,” he said.

All of that changed when an Indian agent came to take David away in 1949.