To coincide with National Indigenous History Month, the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) has launched a new online map that intersects Indigenous languages, culture and art in British Columbia.

The First Peoples’ Map is the first of its kind in Canada and was developed in response to a growing demand from First Nations people seeking a centralized platform to share information about their diverse communities, said Cathi Charles Wherry, FPCC special advisor.

A block of Argyle Street in front of Port Alberni City Hall was closed off to traffic for a very special event on June 21, 2021. The street was filled with tables and decorated in orange as the City of Port Alberni celebrated National Aboriginal Day.

They announced, in the spirit of reconciliation, that they would permanently fly Hupacasath and Tseshaht flags at City Hall.

With a dozen of her family members sitting in the audience, the multi-day coroners inquest into the death of Jocelyn George began today, with hope that a public examination of the circumstances around the tragedy will enable more timely intervention for others in the future.

A group of youth from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation waded into the ocean along the beach in front of Esowista, near Tofino. Clad in wetsuits, some clumsily gripped onto surf boards while others proudly carried boogie boards overhead.

The waves were choppy and inconsistent, but the youth seemed completely unfazed as they charged forward. 

After listening to them express a desire to learn how to surf, Alyssa Fleishman approached the nation’s youth worker, Amy Charlie, to collaborate on creating a Tla-o-qui-aht Surf Team.

The grounds of the former Ahousaht Indian Residential School are now cleared of all buildings as the first nation begins prepping the site for a new healing center. But in the wake of news of hundreds of undocumented remains found at the former Kamloops residential school site, the nation will have the grounds searched for any unmarked graves.

With a fire pit heating up to barbeque salmon behind them, students from the Eighth Avenue Learning Centre’s unveiled the name of the school’s new garden today.

When reflecting on this past school year, Nancy Logan said COVID-19 gave her students at Haahuupayak Elementary School an added bonus of “survival education.”

Located within the community of Tseshaht First Nation in Port Alberni, many of the school’s students are dealing with intergenerational traumas.

COVID-19 added to those challenges as students worried they’d be putting their grandparents and elders at risk by attending school. Some developed a fear of the outdoors, described Logan.

On Tuesday Teechuktl Mental Health hosted its first picnic in the park since 2019, returning to an annual tradition aimed at feeding the Port Alberni community.

Restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a picnic last year. While the provincial health officer’s measures have been eased this spring, limits on outdoor gathering led to team that provides the Quu’asa program to set up a pick-up location rather than its usual large-scale gathering. Paper bags were prepared by staff at tables in Dry Creek Park, where over lunches were picked up by passersby.

On Tuesday, June 15 Rainbow Gardens marked the next stage of its expanding housing facilities, with 48 more units expected to be completed in summer 2022.

Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council President Kekinusuqs, Dr. Judith Sayers, will be installed as Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) third chancellor during a virtual ceremony on June 17.

Sayers was appointed into the position in October 2020 for a three-year term. The installation is a ceremonial introduction that’s normally held within the first year of the new chancellor assuming office duties.

A livestream of the event will begin at 10:45 a.m., with the installation at 11 a.m.