Those behind a kidney monitoring program for remote communities are hoping First Nations and the province will be ready to ease travel restrictions in the coming months, before more people go undetected in developing a chronic illness.

Early last year the First Nations Health Authority, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and Can-Solve CKD Network began a wide-reaching initiative to assess the kidney health of people living in Indigenous communities through blood pressure tests, urine samples, height and weight measurements as well as blood sampling.

The First Nations Health Authority reports that it has delivered 4,000 units of Moderna, the COVID-19 vaccine, to B.C. Indigenous communities between Dec. 29, 2020 and Jan. 13, 2021. They say that more than 19 Indigenous communities have received the vaccine with another 41 communities to receive vaccine very soon.

Bryan Cofsky is doing his best to stay positive.

Cofsky is the executive director of the Ditidaht Economic Development Corporation, the economic arm of the Ditidaht First Nation.

He’s hoping for some encouraging news soon for those who operate Indigenous tourism businesses and wondering what their 2021 seasons will look like.

It’s no secret the COVID-19 pandemic devastated many of these businesses in 2020, including numerous Nuu-chah-nulth companies that were forced to close their doors for large portions of the year.

Residents from six Nuu-chah-nulth nations are among the first to receive the Moderna vaccine within British Columbia.

The communities of Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k:tles7et'h' First Nations, Huu-ay-aht First Nations, Ehattesaht First Nation, Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, Nuuchatlaht First Nation and Ahousaht First Nation were prioritized due to their remote locations and limited access to health care.

Ahousaht Chief Councillor Greg Louie said he was “overwhelmed” when the First Nations Health Authority informed him that Ahousaht was selected to receive the vaccine.

Six months after the police shooting death of Chantel Moore, the Quebec-based agency BEI has completed its investigation and, according to their press release issued December 2020, reports have been delivered to the New Brunswick Coroner and New Brunswick Public Prosecution Services.

Property owner Randy Brown says he has no plans to remove trailers from his Fourth Avenue property, despite being ordered to by the city.

Port Alberni city council have upheld a Remedial Action Order for the Wintergreen Apartments on Fourth Avenue and have given Brown an extra 14 days to complete an extensive list of improvements.

Logging was already underway in the Cheewaht watershed when fisheries biologist Mike Wright first set eyes on the area south of Nitinat Lake 38 years ago.

By the mid-1980s, timber harvest started to increase, setting in motion a cascading chain of events that would threaten to wipe out Cheewaht salmon.

“Basically, they removed much of the canopy above the national park boundary,” Wright recalls.

It has been a long month of recovery for Ahousaht elder Darlene Dick and she has still not regained full strength.

“I’m slowly getting stronger but I still can’t do stairs,” Dick said in a phone interview with Ha-Shilth-Sa.

It was late November when Dick visited the local clinic complaining of a sore throat. At the time, she said she wasn’t offered a COVID-19 test by the doctor. She was told she had a virus and was sent home to recover.

In a growing effort to foster a stronger sense belonging, the Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS) in Port Alberni has tasked Grade 8 students with crafting a 2-D canoe for display.

Under the guidance Geena Haiyupis, ADSS Nuu-chah-nulth education worker, and Moira Barney, ADSS Nuu-chah-nulth teacher, it is being built with plywood and styled as a traditional dugout canoe.

Doctors and First Nations leaders are urging Aboriginal people to put their trust in the health authorities to support the province’s inoculation effort against COVID-19.