A delegation representing the Tla-o-qui-aht language department claimed that B.C.’s Indigenous language programs may be at risk of losing up to 58 per cent of their First Peoples’ Cultural Council funding in 2024 if budget allocations across Canada are adjusted.

Anna Masso, TFN’s language coordinator, outlined the strides her nation is making in saving and revitalizing the Tla-o-qui-aht language. But she is afraid of what will happen if more than half of the language budget is cut in April 2024.

Recently retired, Patricia Little looks back on a quarter century with the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, a period marked by momentous transformations in the administrative world - while the surrounding Port Alberni environment was changing for her growing family.

Little concluded her career with the tribal council in June, after 25 years of working in the non-insured health benefits and accounts payable departments. It was a time of continual upgrading for the Tseshaht member, who only got halfway through Grade 12 as a youth.

After 25 years at the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s main office in Port Alberni, Cathy Watts reflects on her fondness for being where the action is, juggling constant telephone calls while attending to visitors who approached her front desk.

“It was hectic at times, but I did it,” said Watts, who retired earlier this year. “I looked forward to just helping out the people and doing the best I could in the front.”

According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Provisional State of Global Climate, 2023 is reported to be the warmest in the 174-year observational record, surpassing 2016 and 2020 records for warm temperatures.

For Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ First Nations (KCFN), the biggest impact from climate change is on their cultural ways of life through traditional food systems, said Katarina Duke, KCFN’s manager of Marine Conservation and Fisheries.

The 2023 Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Annual General Meeting ended with an announcement from Ahousaht chief and council, stating that they plan to disengage from NTC’s health-specific programs so that the First Nation can directly manage these services on their own.

Elected Chief n̓aasʔałuk (John Rampanen) thanked the other Nuu-chah-nulth nations for standing together over the years and helping Ahousaht get on their feet. He said the nation will begin to transition into a new model of health delivery services in 2024.

In a continuation of a potlatch which started in October 2022, Jeff Cook, Yał luu a, invited people back to the Alberni Athletic Hall Dec. 9 to complete the business of transferring his ha’wilth seat. The 2022 potlatch was cut short due to circumstances beyond the control of the hosts, who promised they would finish their business on a better day. Dec. 9, 2023 was the day they completed their work for Huu-ay-aht’s Yaałuuwaštak̕amałtḥ house.

In July right before Pamela Webster was about to embark on the Tribal Journeys to Muckleshoot, Washington, she drove from Victoria to Nanaimo to look for a new vehicle at Harris Kia, leaving the dealership that day with a Chevy Impala and a financing contract.

After a summer of extreme drought, experts are concerned for conditions next year as they predict mild winter weather, with a November precipitation deficit.

Armel Castellan, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says the last several weeks have seen less precipitation than a typical fall.

“There's actually going to be a deficit in November, which is the wettest time of year for the coast,” he said.

“We’re not going to hit our numbers this month,” added Castellan. “We'll have to see how December, January, February go.”

“We are literally in the bush, far away from paved roads and malls,” said a Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ First Nations member (KCFN) in a BC Achievement award video, but the nation, through its Tiičma Enterprises group of businesses is capitalizing on its remoteness.

On Nov. 5, a delegation from KCFN proudly accepted a BC Achievement Foundation award at a gala dinner held in Vancouver.

A new secure logistics and staging facility at Fair Harbour, in Kyuquot Sound, will allow Tiičma Fisheries to reduce its transportation costs and expand its shellfish aquaculture operations.

The project will be used to store equipment and gear, including aquaculture trays, lantern nets, spools of rope, floats, navigation buoys, a vessel on a trailer, tools and supplies.