The tide was out in the early morning as Genevieve Mack ran towards her grandmother who was carrying a burden basket loaded with wood.

While returning home on the east end of Vargas Island, they walked past a row of canoes that neatly lined Yaksis, otherwise known as a white-sandy beach.

All of the old growth on the surrounding mountains remained intact and there were no speedboats driving by or airplanes buzzing overhead.

“It was so peaceful,” she said. 

Now, when the 77-year-old travels from her home in Ahousaht past the island she feels “homesick.”

Nearly two kilometers of boardwalk and staircases are being replaced as Maaqutusiis Hahoulthee Stewardship Society prepare for an uncertain 2021 tourist season while the COVID-19 pandemic drags on.

According to John Caton, general manager of Maaqutusiis Hahoulthee Stewardship Society (MHSS), BC Parks awarded the $1 million capital project to MHSS in late 2020.

Ahousaht, through MHSS, has a contract with BC Parks to maintain and operate Maquinna Provincial Park in Hot Springs Cove.

It’s been more than a year since one of the two former day school buildings that stood on Ahousaht’s front beach was demolished. With the debris removed and the ground bulldozed, community members gathered on a sunny April 19 to let go of the painful memories of the Ahousaht Day School.

Nathan George was pleased to see some serious action being taken.

But George, the acting manager for the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation fisheries department, believes much more still needs to be done to curtail illegal activity in the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation.

George had mixed reactions following a press release issued last week that detailed information about three American residents who received fines, forfeitures and fees totaling more than $70,000 for an incident that dates back to September 2019.

In a decades-long legal battle to allow their people to pursue a livelihood on the water, five Nuu-chah-nulth nations are celebrating a decision from the B.C. Court of Appeal on fishing rights.

A remotely operated vehicle revisits a Nootka Sound shipwreck this week to probe for a permanent solution to an especially challenging oil spill.

Four months after an all-out spill response got underway, officials are counting on a two-week technical assessment in waters off Bligh Island to yield critical information on fuel still seeping from the 50-year-old sunken wreck of the freighter Schiedyk.

“It’s what we’ve been building up to for the last few months to really ascertain what is down there,” said Gillian Oliver, a Coast Guard incident commander.

Tofino’s Wickaninnish Inn has been closed since November 2020. 

The decision was made in the interest of the “safety of our staff, our community of Tofino and the surrounding First Nations populations,” said Charles McDiarmid, managing director of the Wickaninnish Inn.

“We thought it was prudent and best supportive of the message of our public health officer,” he said. “[Dr. Bonnie Henry] is the expert and if she’s recommending against non-essential travel, we felt we should be in support of that.”

Blockades remain to prevent logging in an untouched valley near Port Renfrew, despite a court injunction to have them removed and a statement from the Pacheedaht criticizing the “unsolicited” involvement in the First Nation’s territory.

A registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) is working to help those with diabetes - or at risk for diabetes - cook healthier at home.

Rachel Dickens has created a cookbook to share healthy recipes that are helpful for managing or preventing diabetes. The cookbook also addresses the increased cost that is often associated with healthy eating, offering cheaper ingredients and substitutions.

More than 80 per cent of Huu-ay-aht citizens voted in favor of purchasing a portion of Tree Farm License 44 at a recent Special People’s Assembly held online.

The purchase will increase Huu-ay-aht’s interest in the TFL partnership, bringing opportunities to its citizens while protecting hahulthi for future generations.

On April 10 the Huu-ay-aht entertained the motion asking for support of a second investment of 28 per cent in TFL 44 LP, bringing the total investment to 35 per cent interest in the large section of Crown land south of Port Alberni.