In a move to prevent dangerous clashes from forestry protest activity in it’s territory, the Huu-ay-aht First Nations have introduced a checkpoint halfway down the road to Bamfield.

The checkpoint went up today on Bamfield Main. If a driver isn’t recognizable, personnel will inform the visitor that while in it’s ḥahuułi, Huu-ay-aht’s three sacred must be followed: ʔiisaak (Utmost Respect), ʔuuʔałuk (Taking Care of), and Hišuk ma c̕awak (Everything is Connected).

Amanda Aspinall, a Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council nurse stationed in the Central Region, administers a COVID-19 vaccination at the Port Alberni Friendship Center on Monday, May 10.

Nurses across Canada are being recognized for National Nursing Week, an event that could be even more important due to the role of front-line health care workers over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A young woman is in a Victoria hospital recovering from multiple gunshot wounds after the Ucluelet RCMP were called to the home for a domestic disturbance.

According to a statement released by RCMP, at around 5:12 p.m. on Saturday, May 8th, frontline officers from the Ucluelet RCMP were called to a report of a disturbance and a male needing medical assistance at a residence in the Port Albion community.

After months of peaceful protests calling for an end to old-growth logging near Port Renfrew, tensions between activists and forestry workers have come to a head. 

Logging in the Walbran Valley has been paused following the release of a video revealing an altercation between forestry workers and those protesting the harvesting.

The footage was shared by the Rainforest Flying Squad, an old-growth activist group.

Lucy Sager grew up along the Highway of Tears in Terrace. The 725-kilometre corridor of highway in British Columbia has been the location of many missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW). 

Driven by a range of factors, including colonization, the disproportionately high number of MMIW is, in part, a result of poverty. Without a driver’s license or access to a vehicle, many First Nations are forced to hitchhike, she said.

“The cost of hitchhiking can be your life,” said Sager. “And certainly, I’ve seen that.”

When Canada went into lockdown last March to combat COVID-19, the First Nations Health Managers Association (FNMHA) knew they needed to get information out, and fast. 

“There's been such a barrage of information coming out, especially as the science evolves and changes,” said Marion Crowe, FNMHA chief executive officer. “We wanted to be able to [create] a central place to gather together where [viewers] could go and see people from different nations – people that look like us, sound like us, laugh like us.”

“If we lose the herring we will have no salmon!” said Simon Lucas at a Nuu-chah-nulth fisheries meeting more than 30 years ago. Nearly four years after the Hesquiaht elder’s passing, Julia Lucas recalled how passionate her husband was about Nuu-chah-nulth-aht’s right to harvest and to manage fisheries in their respective territories.

A carved wooden sign at Sutton Pass summit marks the entrance to Tla-o-qui-aht territory. That is where a small group of people gathered to remember Nuu-chah-nulth loved ones that are missing or were murdered in an event organized by Nora Martin of Tla-o-qui-aht.

Close to 100 temporary supportive homes for people experiencing homelessness are in the works for Victoria’s Capital City Center Hotel.

The Province of BC purchased the hotel, at 1961 Douglas St., through BC Housing and plan to redevelop the site into affordable rental units over the long term.

Since April 2020, BC Housing has been leasing 83 of the hotel’s rooms for use as temporary homes for vulnerable people during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this purchase, BC Housing will convert 94 of the of the hotel's 96 rooms into temporary supportive units.

A Saturday afternoon fishing trip nearly turned tragic as propeller troubles left two elder Ahousaht brothers stranded on the open ocean off of Long Beach, near Tofino.

Eddie Frank, 70, was out fishing with his brother, Tommy Joe Frank, 64, near Portland Point on his boat the Reel Cowboy.

“We were just going to haul up about 4 p.m. and head home, but the wire line got caught on the prop,” Eddie said.