Maxine Clutesi is 13 going on 14. The young Nuu-chah-nulth teen likes vintage fashion and jokes that the usual bout of coastal rain is flattening her classic 50s big hair.
She speaks the truth like only a teenager can.
It has been a week since a juvenile killer whale ventured out of the little lagoon where her mother died the month before, and the world is excited at the prospect of her successful reunion with her pod, and a long, happy life.
But local First Nations and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) are urging the public to keep their distance from the whale as she makes her way up Esperanza Inlet in search of her pod.
Please join us on May 16th at 9:15am at the Port Alberni Courthouse for a rally advocating justice for Don-Tay Patrick Lucas. The sentencing of Rykel Charleson and Mitchell Frank, who have plead guilty to the unfathomable crimes that took Don-Tay’s life, will commence at 10:00 am.
We invite you to bring signs, drums, or simply yourself to stand in solidarity with the Lucas family.
Sisters čiisma and Tuu paat have spoken their Indigenous dialects - without interruption - for every day of their long lives. For elders aged 76 and 81 respectively, this would have been normal 150 years ago. But as Nuu-chah-nulth-aht head deeper into the 21st century, and all of the assimilation that comes with being part of what is now Canada, the presence of speakers fluent in their Ahousaht dialect is becoming an increasingly critical resource with each passing year.
Every day, over the last few weeks Coda Johnson of Huu-ay-aht and Rose Tatoosh of Hupacasath have been painting a trash bin with their signature artwork that will soon make its way into the Port Alberni community.
Embellished with bright purples and baby blues, Tatoosh hopes that seeing the trash bin covered with art will make people feel good.
“It makes me feel good, because I'm making other people feel good,” said Tatoosh of the artwork. “Or at least look at [it] and be like, ‘Oh, that's a cool looking trash can’.”
It has been just over a year since the province enacted an exemption under section 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to decriminalize people who use drugs.
The federal government approved an exemption to allow for the removal of criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of some illicit substances for personal use by people over 18 years old within British Columbia. The decriminalization ‘experiment’ came into effect Jan. 31, 2023, and remains in effect until Jan. 31, 2026.
Anacla residents will soon be able to access cleaner water as upgrades are planned for infrastructure in the Huu-ay-aht community.
The Huu-ay-aht First Nation is receiving $883,500 in provincial funding and $4,417,500 in federal funding for Anacla water treatment system repairs and expansion. The project will construct a new water treatment plant, a new reservoir, rehabilitate two wells and replace a damaged water line.
The Tseshaht First Nation are working towards establishing new economic development opportunities by building a serviced access road on a parcel of land along the Pacific Rim Highway.
The BC NDP Government is investing up to $33 million across rural areas of the province for the second intake of the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP). Communities on Vancouver Island and other coastal communities will be receiving up to $12.9 million in funding for 41 approved projects from REDIP to help strengthen local economies.
Hundreds of Vancouver Island elders descended on Port Alberni’s Italian Hall on April 24 as Hupacasath graciously hosted the first Vancouver Island elders lunch since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yes, it was crazy insane busy,” said Hupacasaht Youth and Elder Coordinator Carolina Tatoosh.
She went to say that she had planned for 350 elders and since their Hupacasath House of Gathering cannot accommodate that many people, they rented the Italian Hall on 6th Avenue.
But even then, it was standing-room only.
Hello world.