Excitement is building for Hoobiyee 2025, a two-day celebration of Indigenous dance and culture set to illuminate Vancouver’s PNE Forum on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1.
Pronounced HOO-bee-yay, the event is guided by the emergence of the first crescent moon in late winter and marks the beginning of the Nisga’a new year.
Although the debate continues over how the province should handle the ongoing overdose crisis, a ray of hope is evident in the declining tally of fatal deaths in B.C.
On Feb.4 the B.C. Coroners Service reported 2,254 deaths due to illicit drug use in 2024. While it remains the leading cause of death to residents under 60 – more than homicide, suicide and car crashes combined – B.C.’s tragic toll from last year shows a 13 per cent decrease from 2023, and the lowest seen since the COVID-19 pandemic brought a surge in drug-related fatalities in 2020.
It’s been a busy month for President Trump. From directing the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement and waging war on paper straws to raving about turning the Gaza strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, the antics of the Trump administration have been nothing short of unravelling.
While 51 per cent Native Americans voted for Trump, according to a poll released by Native News Online, many nations have sent letters to the President in response to the recent political developments.
Birthright citizenship
Over a hundred walked through the streets of Nanaimo on Feb. 14 in recognition of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people – one of many such marches that took place over the weekend with hopes of ending a national crisis.
Organized by the Vancouver Island University Student Union, the MMIWG march in Nanaimo was one of many held across Canada on Feb. 14. An estimated 250 people participated in the walk in Nanaimo, according to Leah Vaisanen, VIU's Indigenous Students' Representative.
For the first time since 1989, the Ucluelet Secondary School (USS) Warriors senior girls basketball team is heading to the Provincial Championships.
Head coach Emily Collins says her team represents the heart and depth of the west coast with players represented from Ucluelet, Tofino, ʕaaḥuusʔatḥ (Ahousaht), Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ (Ucluelet First Nation) and ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht).
During the third annual Red Dress roundtable in Ottawa at the end of January 2025, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations, appointed Jennifer Richardson as Canada’s new chief advisor to combat human trafficking.
Richardson, who is herself a survivor of human trafficking, says she “uniquely understands the barriers and challenges that victims face” and that she will work towards making support and services more accessible.
It has been nearly 10 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hosted its final gathering in Ottawa, presenting 94 calls to action as a guide for reconciliation between Canada and its Indigenous Peoples.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was established as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Its purpose was to inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian residential schools and to document the stories of the survivors and those personally affected by the Indian residential school experience.
Six more Indigenous justice centres have been introduced across British Columbia - including a third location on Vancouver Island – support aimed to address the fact that Aboriginal people are five times more likely to be incarcerated than other B.C. residents.
Canada is investing $24.2 million in Indigenous sport programs to empower First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
The Honourable Terry Duguid, minister of Sport and minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, announced the 2024-2026 funding recipients for the Sport for Social Development in Indigenous Communities (SSDIC) initiative on Feb. 7 at a media event outside the Indigenous Sport Gallery BC Sports Hall of Fame in Vancouver.
Island Health is assuring residents and visitors of the central Vancouver Island region that it has strategies in place to keep the West Coast General Hospital (WCGH) emergency department running in the event of staffing shortages.
“Like most health authorities around B.C. and across Canada, Island Health is challenged by a shortage of trained emergency department nurses and physicians. These challenges are even more prevalent in rural and remote regions,” Island Health wrote in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa.