After engaging in a practice that once sustained their ancestors over a century ago, dealing with a whale that washed up on Long Beach has been a massive learning experience for Tla-o-qui-aht members. 

“It takes a whole community to get this done,” said Gisele Martin, after her and other members of the First Nation harvested parts of the deceased grey whale, or maaʔak, on May 10. “I think it’s been a great big, amazing learning experience.”

He had just turned 65, was always relatively healthy and had quit alcohol a decade earlier. But, according to Doreen Little, her husband died very suddenly last year. She believes he could have lived much longer had he followed doctor’s advice more diligently and made a simple diet change.

William Little, an Ahousaht man, worked all his life in the automotive repair industry and even had a side hustle, fixing people’s vehicles at his home on evenings and weekends. He was a busy man with a quiet family home. 

An offering of dried Devil’s Club, the plant used by Indigenous peoples for a range of medicinal, ceremonial and spiritual purposes, sat beside a sign-up sheet for traditional cedar brushings as members of the ʔuukʷinkpanač (ook-wink-panach) West Coast Primary Care Initiative (WCPCI) team welcomed guests to the Tin Wis Conference Centre on May 10 for a grand opening celebration.

Ahmber Barbosa’s interest in health care began at the age of four.

“I was in the delivery room when my brother was born,” she said. “It was just the most magical experience. I knew I wanted to deliver babies when I was that young, but there’s a few different paths you can take to do that.”

Tla-o-qui-aht released 20 Calls To Action for the RCMP, BC Corrections and the Independent Investigation Office (IIO) on May 9 after a Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and Children Walk that weaved through all three of the First Nation’s communities, starting in the ancient village site of Opitsaht and ending in Esowista and Ty-Histanis. 

The provincial government has released its 2024 Climate Change Accountability Report, concluding that B.C. is making progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions - but not enough to meet the province’s 2030 target.

The report is based on emission data collected between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024. The province began setting reduced emissions goals in 2007 with hopes they could be achieved by finding ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and building a low-carbon economy.

The territory of the Nuu-chah-nulth is vast, encompassing over 350 kilometres across the west coast of Vancouver Island. Within this region lies dozens of coastal communities – many of which are a considerable distance by boat or logging road from the closest medical facility.

“Constant, consistent access to care closer to home. You want to talk about my No. 1 issue? That would be it,” reflects Dr. Roger Boyer II in his first month as the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s manager of Community Health Services.

Staff and students were safely evacuated during an early morning fire at Alberni District Secondary School on May 8. The fire was spotted prior to the start of the school day.

The Port Alberni Fire Department along with the Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department, the Cherry Creek Fire Department and the Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department all responded to the structure fire.

Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks Guardian Gisele Maria Martin spotted the whale floating out in rough seas in front of the Esowista Peninsula on Monday and by Wednesday the magnificent creature had found its final resting place just south of Lovekin Rock on Long Beach in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

“The first thing we did was ceremony. We did a chant for the whale,” said Martin.

It got its start in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side, filling a need that men in the rough streets so desperately need – a place of support, a place to connect to culture and a place of healing. Dudes Club has been bringing Indigenous men together starting in downtown Vancouver for 15 years.

Grant Barton, Dudes Club Society Executive Director, said that Indigenous people living in the Downtown Eastside come from all over and it is home to the most vulnerable people in Canada. The DTES is known for its homeless population and for people living in addiction.