Thick hair hanging in a dark cloak to cover his boyish face, young Darryl McCarthy crouches on the forest floor over a pile of wood shavings. For several minutes he’s been scraping pieces of steel together, patiently trying to arouse fire from the sparks. Next to him sits ƛuupin, a boy of similar age, tapping a knife edge with wood, driving it down the grain of cedar pieces to feed the fire they hope will soon appear. Wearing a camouflage cap, Jordan Touchie comes with a cup full of wood shavings, silently helping the younger boy to produce the necessary eruption of sparks.

There is a heart fence in Port Alberni that memorializes some of the loved ones who have died due to the illicit drug supply in the past few years. The Heart Project features brightly coloured wooden hearts hanging from a chain-link fence at Dry Creek Park off of 4th Avenue. 

The provincial government announced a $45 million investment in new funding for preserving Indigenous languages in its Budget 2025. Spread over three years, the new funding would go to the First People’s Cultural Council (FPCC) to support Indigenous language preservation and revitalization work.

In a written statement, the province said this investment nearly doubles its past annual allotment to First Nations-led language programming. 

The FPCC says this is the first time it has received a long-term funding commitment for programs from the province. 

Opposition is growing against legislation set for a final vote this week in Victoria, a bill that appears to give the province power to override the authority of municipalities and First Nations if a development is “designated as provincially significant”.

Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act, was introduced in the legislature on May 1 with the aim of speeding up approvals for large developments in British Columbia, eliminating “unnecessary and costly delays,” said Premier David Eby. 

Small town whispers about an orca swimming into a fish farm near Tofino are true.

On the morning of Feb. 18, 2025 a killer whale swam into the infrastructure at Creative Salmon’s Baxter Islets facility in Clayoquot Sound, states a May 23 email statement from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). 

“The animal safely swam back out shortly after on the same day,” said the department, which is responsible for the conservation and protection of marine mammal species in Canadian waters, as well as managing licences for aquaculture operations in B.C.

In a district-wide event that brought hundreds to a tiny coastal community, Zeballos Elementary Secondary School hosted a potlatch on May 22.

This is article is part of a series of stories on Nuu-chah-nulth clam gardens.

Tofino dwindled in the distance as the water taxi followed a low, low spring tide out towards Meares Island Tribal Park or wanačas hiłhuuʔis, Nuu-chah-nulth words that translate to ‘the mountain and the shoreline’. 

Elder Vince Smith was among the crew for the day, having journeyed roughly seven hours with family from Ehattesaht territory and the town of Zeballos on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. 

The B.C. Ministry of Environment and Parks is temporarily closing Botanical Beach in Juan de Fuca Park for 24 hours, beginning Sunday, May 25. The announced closure is intended to keep the public out of the popular tourist attraction to allow members of the Pacheedaht First Nation privacy and freedom to harvest marine resources and “to reconnect with an important part of their territory,” states a press release from the province.

The elders looked happy cracking open crab with their hands on Sunday at the Alberni Athletic Hall during last day of the second annual Tseshaht Lightning Open Basketball Tournament.

They also enjoyed a free seafood feast of clams and frybread the day before. 

“The Tseshaht families are very generous. This is their traditional territories,” said Andrea Amos-Baker. 

Elder Donna Samuel’s pink beaded Nike cap and pink sweater matched the huge plate of prawns she was served after finishing her crab. 

Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ player Matthew Jack Jr. didn’t say much after being named ‘Mr. Hustle’ in the U17 boys division, but his take on the May Long Tseshaht Lightning Open Basketball Tournament was pretty on point. 

“I love playing with my friends who are not Native. It’s really more fun,” said Jack Jr. 

His new team is the Alberni Naani, a mix of Port Alberni and Ucluelet ballers. They cruised to second place, falling only in the final 62-44 to Rain, who powered through four games on the same day to score a back-door victory.