When Rita Watts reflects on British Columbia’s drug crisis, a young First Nations man she encountered one day outside of Port Alberni’s Shopper’s Drug Mart comes to mind. Watts noticed the fellow slumped over on the sidewalk as she stepped out of the store.

“I sat in my vehicle and cried, because this young man was just so wired, and he looked maybe 13, 14 years old, sitting there with a pipe in his hand,” said Watts. “He needs help, he needs guidance. Where’s his parents? If he’s in foster care, why is he sitting there?”

Two Indigenous Thunderbirds landed in downtown Tofino on Earth Day, April 22. 

Tofino in Tla-o-qui-aht territory is now their permanent home, and they reflect the community’s history, identity and respect for one another, according to the district.

One Thunderbird can be seen emerging into a rainbow on the sidewalk in front of the Clayoquot Sound Theatre along Campbell Street, while the second Thunderbird spread its wings along the crosswalk heading to Anchor Park lookout at Third Street and Main.

An alarming number of dead grey whales have been found on beaches of the Pacific Northwest. Most of the carcasses show tell-tale signs of starvation. 

Reports indicate that 18 dead grey whales were found in the Pacific Northwest region in April – with five in British Columbia and thirteen in neighboring Washington State. Add to that the dead grey whales found in Oregon, California and Mexico in the last few weeks and the number jumps to more than 30 found this spring.

A project is being launched in Clayoquot Sound that researchers believe attends to the “root causes of salmon decline”.

It’s part of a $6-million investment in watershed restoration has been launched across British Columbia to improve salmon recovery, support Indigenous-led environmental stewardship and ecosystem restoration.

Snotty Nose Rez Kids lit up Tofino’s Clayoquot Sound Theatre on April 23 in front of a sold-out crowd. The Haisla Nation hip-hop duo won Rap Album/EP of the Year at the 2025 Juno Awards for their sixth studio album Red Future. They are on a West Coast Tour for the next two weeks, with stops in Cumberland, Port Alberni, Whitehorse, Dawson City, Salt Spring Island and Campbell River. (Nora O’Malley photo)

British Columbia officials say Vancouver Island could face an elevated risk of drought and water shortages this summer, even as the province reports normal snowpack levels overall. Snowpack levels recorded on April 1st showed that the B.C. average was 93 per cent of normal, compared to 79 per cent in 2025 and 66 per cent in 2024. However, low snowpack in south interior and south-west B.C. is increasing seasonal drought hazard.

Hesquiaht Braves basketball legend Constant Napolean Charleson, or “Nupps”, was honoured throughout an all-native invitational basketball tournament hosted by his family on April 16 to 19 in Port Alberni.

Charleson was player, coach, manager and a strong believer in all-native sports. Before he passed away in September 2022, he was working towards reviving the annual Hesquiaht tournament that faded when the pandemic paused sporting events in 2020. 

It was shaping up to be a hot, contentious summer as Premier David Eby considered introducing a bill that would suspend or amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, also known as DRIPA. The province’s First Nations and their supporters were prepared to fight the move, seeing it as a step backward from the hard-fought gains made by previous generations of both First Nations and provincial leaders.

In this beautifully presented but shocking history of settler colonialism in a small First Nation community, Kingsclear - now known as Bilijk, New Brunswick - Andrea Bear Nicholas tells an explosive tale of land theft, violence, forced assimilation and cultural genocide – and, despite all, the survival of an unwavering people. 

Born as an alternative to Tla-o-qui-aht’s growing participation in the Vancouver Hoobiyee event, a new cultural celebration has arisen that the First Nation plans to make an annual gathering in its home territory.