A Hupacasath First Nation member has captured one of the top journalism awards in western Canada.

Wawmeesh Hamilton took top honors in the Best Feature/Enterprise Reporting category for radio or a podcast at this year’s ceremony for the Jack Webster Awards. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s ceremony was held online on Dec. 8.

The awards are named after Webster, a journalist who had a career in British Columbia spanning more than 40 years in print, radio and television. Webster retired in 1986 and died 13 years later at the age of 80.

As a young girl, Gina Laing spent her days in the remote village of Ethlateese living off the land. Considered the wettest place in North America, Ethlateese is tucked away in the Uchucklesaht Inlet. Surrounded by uninterrupted forest, the tiny village looks as though it is about to be swallowed whole by the surrounding mountains.

It was the birthplace of Laing’s father, who lived there his entire life – the way his mother had before him.

Those deep ancestral ties have connected Laing to the quiet piece of land ever since her earliest memories.

An Ahousaht resident’s battle with COVID-19 is showing fundamental flaws in the health care system’s response for remote communities, after it took four visits seeking medical attention before Darlene Dick was transported to ICU.

A pop-up warming site has been set up on Fourth Avenue next to the Friendship Centre to serve the community’s homeless population.

Lisa George and a group of advocates were given approval from the City of Port Alberni to set up tents on a gravel lot on a trial basis. Three 10 X 10 tents will be erected from 6 p.m. to midnight this Friday, Saturday and an unannounced day next week to provide those in need a place to warm up by a propane fire and grab some food.

An all-out tripartite response to rescue Fraser River stocks after the Big Bar Slide should be a template for reversing steep declines of Pacific salmon coastwide.

That proposal was among a raft of reforms demanded by witnesses who appeared Wednesday, Dec. 9 before the Parliamentary standing committee on fisheries and oceans. The two-hour testimony gave a handful of First Nation representatives a chance to speak their minds on the collapse of wild salmon stocks, a disaster unfolding.

In an effort to improve safety in the Uptown District, the City of Port Alberni has purchased a building on Third Avenue for Bylaw services and the Community Policing team.

The building was purchased in alignment with Port Alberni city council’s Corporate Strategic Plan goal of fostering a complete community that is safe, healthy and inclusive. The new Public Safety Building is scheduled to open mid 2021 once renovations are complete.

With winter still ahead, Anacla and Bamfield have already seen seasonal power outages, reminding residents of their notoriously unreliable electrical service.

“We’ve had at least two now,” said Trevor Cootes, Huu-ay-aht First Nation councillor.

“This is the time of year when I get reminded of other considerations of importance to this energy project,” added Cootes, who is responsible for the Huu-ay-aht economic development portfolio. “Huu-ay-aht struggles quite often and it’s out of the hands of B.C. Hydro.”

A new Indigenous-themed podcast has begun in Victoria.

And Tchadas Leo, the host and creator of the podcast titled Our Native Land, is hoping to include plenty of Nuu-chah-nulth content on his show, which is being recorded out of the CHEK TV studio in Victoria.

The podcast is being billed as one that will explore all things Indigenous and First Nations. It will include interviews and discussions about cuisine, culture, heritage as well as other topics focused on Vancouver Island but also including other parts of the world.

Ancient cedar trees within Nuu-chah-nulth territory have become the focus of a battle between environmental groups and forestry operators.

In November the Ancient Forest Alliance reported that a grove containing massive Western red cedars east of Nitinaht Lake had been logged. Located in Ditidaht First Nation territory and part of the Caycuse River watershed, the trees were still standing when the environmental group previously visited the site in April.

Huu-ay-aht First Nations (HFN) are pressing ahead this fall with construction of Anacla’s first community wastewater treatment system, considered a catalyst for local economic growth.

After decades of discussion, negotiation and planning, the $8-million wastewater project finally gained ground through a unique partnership between HFN, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC) and the research station’s supporting universities.