Ha Shilth Sa Newspaper April 6, 2023

Apod of transient killer whales were seen in

Kakawin seen travelling Alberni Inlet

Beachkeepers spend 40 minutes with killer whales, which soon swam to Ahousaht

By Alexandra Mehl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

PortAlberni, BC - For the Tseshaht beachkeepers, March 23 began when they met their supervisor down at the Port Alberni docks. They took two boats down theAlberni Inlet to Equis, where they had left Hemlock branches along a string of buoys with hopes to catch herring eggs. But with no luck they returned to Keith Island where they spent the remainder of the day.

Later on that day the crew decided to take their time on their way back home to PortAlberni. It was when they neared Nahmint Bay that they noticed sprays a few hundred metres ahead.

Initially the beachkeepers thought they were humpbacks, but when they saw orca fins breaching the water, excitement stirred.

Shane Sieber said there were about seven orcas.

“It’s not too often where you get to see a pod of orcas in theAlberni Canal,” said Sieber.

Sieber shared his excitement with family and friends by putting videos on Face-

Newborn calf brings in spring

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter

Opitsaht, BC –Acalf was recently born to the feral herd of cattle that have roamed freely on Meares Island for more than a century.

According to resident Norman Thomas, the calf was born onApril 3, behind his house, located at the back side of the village of Opitsaht.

“My boys (in early 20s) saw it being born yesterday and they were worried that dogs or something would get after it when the mother wandered off,” Thomas told Ha-Shilth-Sa.

Tla-o-qui-aht residents say that the missionaries of Christie Indian Residential School brought cattle in during the early 1900s. But farming never took hold for the children that attended the school at Kakawis or for the residents of Opitsaht. Now feral, the herd roams a forest trail between Kakawis and Opitsaht freely.

They have adapted to life on the west coast, grazing on the lush lawns of Opitsaht and Kakawis. They also head to the beach at low tide to munch on eel grass.

book. Promptly his online community was able to identify some of the members of the transient pod. The biggest give away was an orca named Chainsaw (T063).

Born in 1978, Chainsaw was named by the identifiable markings on his dorsal fin that resemble the shape of the motorized tool. It’s widely speculated that he received his famous markings in his youth from an animal like a sea lion. His mother, Whidbey II (T065), born in 1968, was most likely present. The Tseshaht beachkeepers were with the pod for roughly forty minutes from Nahmint Bay to Dunsmuir Point, across from China Creek. Sieber explains that they would breach, and then dive under. The crew would scan the distant surface until the pod would breach once again roughly 300 to 400 metres away from them.

It’s believed that the group are Bigg’s orcas, also commonly identified as transient killer whales. They’re known as the wolves of the sea for their stealthy hunting tactics, only staying in locations for brief durations and traveling up to 100 kilometres per day.

“Kakawin, killer whale, it represents a very strong [and] fearsome whale,” said Sieber,using the Nuu-chah-nulth name for the animal.

Unlike the Southern Resident killer whales, whose diet is primarily chinook salmon, Bigg’s are mammal hunters. Their diet includes harbour seals, harbour porpoises, steller and California sea lions, Dall’s porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphin, and on occasion, other whales, according to the Georgia StraitAlliance. Sieber said he received a report from his friend who sighted the pod in Uchucklesaht Inlet only an hour later. The following day Chainsaw and his pod were spotted nearAhousaht.

As a Tseshaht beachkeeper, Sieber often sees humpback whales, some gray whales, and eagles. He has often found trading beads throughout his years as a beachkeeper in the Broken Group Islands.

“It’s [an] amazing feeling to work out in our homelands,” said Sieber. “There’s a certain type of energy you get when as soon as you enter the Broken Groups just knowing that’s where our people come from.”

They are not formally cared for, but people sometimes feed them fruit when they come to the village. One calf with a congenital deformity in its leg was rescued from the herd in 2021.

Still, it’s a treat for locals to see calves being born in their village in the spring.

The calf born this week was left alone in Thomas’s backyard. Believing that the mother would come back, the family let them be. But Thomas found the calf laying on the frosty grass behind his house early onApril 4, alone and cold.

“The mother wasn’t there yesterday, and I worried that it wouldn’t come back,” said Thomas.

He wrapped the newborn in a comforter and got a bottle of milk and warm water.

He said the calf appears to be a male and its mother comes back now and then, but doesn’t stay with the newborn.

“She kicked it away, once,” said Thomas.

The calf took some of the milk after Thomas modified the baby bottle. It could be heard braying loudly.

Thomas contacted the CARE Network, an animal rescue society based in Tofino.

“They said they would send someone to look at him,” said Thomas.

For now, the newborn calf found a sunny patch of grass to lay down on as it calls out to its mother.

Shane Sieber video still

theAlberni Inlet on March 23, as Tseshaht beachkeepers travelled from the Broken Group Islands.

Traffic delays end at Kennedy Hill, project wraps up

Only minor traffic disruptions this spring, ‘finishing touches’ include line painting, rumble strips, site cleanup

By Karly Blats Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

Kennedy Lake, BC - Commuters, tourists and those traveling to and from Vancouver Island’s west coast no longer have to endure long traffic delays or schedule conflicts now that the Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement Project is substantially complete.

Improvements to the stretch of Highway 4 adjacent to Kennedy Lake and approximately 14 kilometres northeast of the Tofino/Ucluelet junction have to a large extent wrapped up after more than five years of construction.

Safety improvements include widening the highway, realignments to the passage to remove sharp blind corners, straightening the road as well as blasting and eliminating overhanging rock above the road surface that was hazardous to larger transport vehicles.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) said final completion of the road is expected by this spring.

“The ministry is putting the finishing touches to the roadway, including line painting, rumble strips and site cleanup,” MoTI said in an emailed statement. “The road is open to two-way traffic with minor intermittent traffic disruptions anticipated throughout spring, while final items are completed. The rest area will be opened once pavement markings are completed.”

The project has also constructed a new scenic rest area facility for travellers to park.

Travelers using the highway during the years-long safety project were often subject to long delays and single-lane

Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure photo

After five years of construction hold-ups on Highway 4, the Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement Project is almost complete.

Pictured is work on the stretch of highway over Kennedy Lake in June 2022. you’d see people tossing the football or taking their dogs for a walk. There’s a little beach you can see where the construction’s happening so I’d sit there for an hour or so and watch what was going on.”

alternating traffic to get through the construction zone.

CommuterAl Titian who’s a boat captain with Cermaq travelled to and from the west coast weekly all throughout the long construction phase. He said the commuter bus his crew took to and from work would often get delayed waiting for the road to open, causing them to be late getting to work or home.

“We had to make the 8 a.m. opening getting into camp and then if you missed it you had to wait another hour or so,” Titian said. “Alot of hours [waiting]…

Titian said with the road closures and delays, Cermaq crews would need to make sure they were on the bus leaving Tofino at the right time to make the planned openings.

“Before the construction was happening we’d leave Tofino at 2 p.m. and then when the construction started happening,

we’d have to be out at a certain time to make that opening,” Titian said. “Some people would be getting home between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. because the bus starts in Tofino, stops in PortAlberni and then goes to Nanaimo and Campbell River.”

Now that construction is complete, Titian said the bus is back to its normal schedule of leaving Tofino at 3 p.m.

“I’m glad it’s open,” Titian said. “I’ve been there from day one of construction to the end and you’re not so used to running right through there. You get so used to that routine of stopping and waiting.

‘They need help right now’: Forum stresses urgency

Tseshaht hold a gathering at Maht Mah’s in late March to address the opioid crisis’ ongoing toll on Port Alberni

By Alexandra Mehl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

PortAlberni, BC - With First Nations in B.C. having died at a rate 5.4 times higher than other residents in 2021, and PortAlberni, a hub for Nuu-chah-nulth, seeing an increase in drug induced deaths, Tseshaht First Nation organized a forum to address the opioid crisis.

“We’re actually in a state of emergency for the amount of people that we’ve lost,” said Wahmeesh (Ken Watts), elected chief councillor of Tseshaht First Nation.

“We’ve lost more people to [the] opioid crisis than COVID-19.”

Community members throughout the valley and from neighboring nations gathered for a two-day forum to discuss a way forward, protect youth, and fill gaps in services.

Identifying community needs

Gail Gus, Tseshaht First Nation’s Crisis Care and Wellness coordinator, said that this event is important to the community because the amount of toxic drugs have “ramped up” since the pandemic when the borders shut down.

“For me, as frontline, I don’t want it to be a norm when people die,” said Gus. “I just want us to be able to help each other and fill the gaps to our services, because I think we can do that.”

“We just thought it was really important to not just develop a Tseshaht plan, or even a Nuu-chah-nulth plan, but a plan for the whole valley,” said Watts. “[This meeting is] everybody, unified, working together.”

Watts foresees a strategy being developed once information from the forum is finalized. The strategy will then be presented back to the community, with the intention of lobbying in a unified manner to gain what is needed in PortAlberni.

Among many solutions suggested was rapid access to detox beds and recovery services.

“When somebody says, ‘I need your help, I need to detox, I need to get away,’ they’re trying to get away from the people that they’re surrounded by that are continuously doing those drugs,” said Les Doiron, vice-president to Nuu-chahnulth Tribal Council. “But there’s no beds, there’s no homes, there’s no places to go.”

Doiron lost his nephew, Charles Leslie Alexander Doiron, last year to the opioid crisis. His nephew had asked for help prior to his death but there was nowhere available for him to go.

“I think that we need more and more infrastructure to be able to take our people to,” said Doiron. “You have to be very, very lucky in order to be able to find a facility to be able to go to get a detox bed.”

For Dr. Shane Longman, a physician in theAlberni Valley, among the many barriers is access to hospital beds. This is a resource that he would like more of.

Once admitted to the hospital, Longman is able to give patients medications such as suboxone or methadone, used in OpioidAgonist Therapy (AOT), to help transition individuals from using illicit drugs by preventing withdrawal and reduce cravings, at a more efficient pace.

“The benefit of having them in the hospital is that I can escalate it many times faster than I can do in the community,” said Longman. “For instance, with methadone, the patient needs to be monitored above a certain dose if you go quickly, whereas in the community, you must go slower because no one can monitor them in their own home.”

In the hospital patients can get to a therapeutic dose quicker and are more likely to progress to not using anymore, said Longman.

The window is smaller, rapid access to services required

“Drugs have changed over the years,” said Gus. “Everything has fentanyl, or other garbage, [such as] rhinoceros tranquilizer because we have that in Port Alberni right now.”

Gus said that due to increased toxicity, the window in which people can be helped has grown smaller.

“You have to take that window when you get it,” said Gus.

“They need help right now, not a week from now, not several weeks from now to go to some other detox in some other city,” said Watts. “I think that’s why everybody’s pushing for the same thing is they need one here in the Valley.”

Watts said that waiting for care out of town is unreasonable, and is likely discouraging people from facing their struggles.

“There’s so many people that are addicted right now and actually want help,” said Watts.

The old model ‘just doesn’t work’

According to a recent B.C. Coroners Service report, 2022 ended with a total of 2,272 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths, making it the second largest annual number of fatalities, following the 2,306 deaths from 2021.

Since the province of B.C. has declared a state of emergency in 2016 the rate of deaths have more than doubled.

In the 2023 budget, the province is allocating more than $1 billion in new funding, over a period of three years, to mental health and addiction services, with a $586 million investment in adding

treatment and recovery services.

This includes 195 new recovery beds to be offered throughout the province. In an interview with Ha-Shilth-Sa, Jennifer Whiteside, minister of Mental Health and Addiction, said that one hundred beds of these beds are to be distributed throughout the Canadian Mental HealthAssociation of B.C., adding to the current 105 beds that are being operated on behalf of the province.

The locations of these beds will be allocated based on capacity as well as community need, said Whiteside.

While the remaining 95 will be allocated to a program being developed at St. Paul’s Hospital, called Road to Recovery, plans are to expand this program throughout communities in B.C.

“I think there’s no question that we are in the midst of an unrelenting poison drug crisis that is changing very quickly,” said Whiteside.

“We know that there are many gaps in our system. It’s a very fragmented system,” she admitted. “Given the toxicity…of the drug supply, and the increasing challenges that [it] poses, the model that we’ve been working on just doesn’t work.”

In addition to treatment and recovery beds, the $586 million is to “develop and roll out a new model of seamless care to support people through their entire recovery journey, create wraparound supports, expand Indigenous treatment centres, and develop new recovery communities to support people and their recovery through the long term,” reads the Ministry of

Finance 2023 Budget backgrounder.

When asked about how remote communities will access these services, Whiteside said that the ministry, regional health authorities and the First Nations HealthAuthority are working together to identify the needs that rural and remote communities have involving access.

“[That is what] we’re really working on with health authorities, to make sure that we have those services in a way that is accessible,” said Whiteside.

“We need to invest in things like transportation to get people to care, particularly in rural and remote areas,” she added.

“And how to get health care to people who are in remote communities, which I think is particularly an issue for the territory of the Nuu-chah-nulth.”

“The other point I think that is so critical in all of this is to recognize that culture saves lives,” said Whiteside.

She explained that the ministry directed their efforts to supporting Indigenous-led solutions by supporting investments in land-based healing.

“We know that if we can reconnect or keep Indigenous people connected to their culture and their communities, that is the best path to wellness for them,” said Whiteside.

“We all have hope in that building,” said Gus outside of Maht Mah’s, where the opioid crisis forum was held. “I put my effort in where I know it’s going to a have an outcome, and this is going to have an outcome.”

Holly Stocking photo

People line up outside of PortAlberni’s Safe Injection Site on 3rd Avenue in 2021. The continued wave of fatal overdoses prompted the Tseshaht First Nation to hold a forum March 27 and 28 to seek solutions. There has not been any fatalities reported from the city’s Safe Injection Site.

“We need to invest in things like transportation to get people to care, particularly in rural and remote areas”

~ Jennifer Whiteside, B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addiction

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Toxic Drug app gives local danger info

Cell phone feature sends alerts to users about particularly dangerous street drugs

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter

British Columbia –Anew toxic drug alert text service has expanded to Island Health. The new service, available on Vancouver Island, sends out warnings by text of toxic drug advisories in your city.

Launched by Toward the Heart, a British Columbia Centre for Disease Control program, and Island Health in 2022, the drug-poisoning overdose advisory became available for Vancouver Islanders by text message in December 2022.

“These advisories share information about increases in toxic drug poisonings in Island Health communities and provide tips for safer drug use,” stated Island Health. “To sign up for the free service, text JOIN to 253787.”

According to Island Health, drug poisoning advisories can be prompted by several factors, including an unusual increase coming to emergency departments, a rise in ambulance calls for suspected overdoses, as well as anecdotal information from community partners, such as observations from frontline workers at safe consumption sites.

When there is an increase in these factors in a particular area, a text alert is sent out to subscribers warning them of the danger of the high risk of drug-poisoning.

According to the Toward the Heart website, toxic drug and health alerts are a free, real-time text messaging service for anyone to receive and share information in their community. This service is anonymous.

As of February 26, 2023, there were 1,673 active subscribers within the Island Health region.

The Toward the Heart website provides a wealth of information and services available to British Columbians. There is information about how to recognize an overdose and how to help someone who might be overdosing.

Users of the site can find out where access free and confidential drug checking services. This service is available at most Vancouver Island safe consumption sites in Victoria, Duncan, Nanaimo, Campbell River, Comox and PortAlberni. Some sites may have BTNX fentanyl testing strips that can be used on site or taken

elsewhere to check drugs.

Introduced in 2020, the LifeguardApp can be downloaded to mobile devices for free. It can directly link people to emergency responders if an overdose does occur.

The user enters their name then allows the app to track their address, then selects the drug being used from a list. Before ingesting the drug, the user launches the app. The app starts a 50-second timer. “If the user doesn’t hit a button to stop the alarm, indicating they are fine, the alarm grows louder.After 75 seconds a text-to-voice call will go straight to 9-1-1, alerting emergency medical dispatchers of a potential overdose,” according to the Provincial Health ServicesAuthority. The timer can be extended for up to five minutes by the user, if they feel they need more time. Identifying information collected by the app is only used if it appears that the user needs emergency health services.

The LifeguardApp can be downloaded at both theApp Store and Google Play. Island Health notes that the ongoing

toxic drug-poisoning crisis is a complex public health emergency that requires multiple approaches.

“There is no one solution and we are adapting our response on an ongoing basis to create and implement more tools to try and reduce the harm for people who use substances,” Island Health said in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa. “The text alert system is one more tool to make people aware that toxic drugs are circulating in their region or community.”

People can get other information by text message, like where to find naloxone or how to get drugs tested. They can also report bad drugs by filling out an overdose survey at https://vchhealthsurvey.phsa. ca/Overdose.survey. The information helps public health authorities track toxic drugs, allowing them to issue warnings.

Go to https://towardtheheart.com/ alerts for important information about staying safe. Use this page for the latest on signing up for the Toxic Drug and Public HealthAlerts, as well as accessing overdose prevention and drug checking services in BC.

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Denise Titian photo Introduced in 2020, the LifeguardApp can be downloaded to mobile devices for free. It can directly link people to emergency responders if an overdose does occur.

House of Courage opens for 43 at risk of homelessness

Home offers ‘alcohol harm reduction management’ to mitigate toll of dependence, with hopes for future clarity

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Victoria, BC - Forty-three people at risk of homelessness will soon have a permanent home in Victoria, at a facility designed to provide the positive elements of a First Nations community.

Over the next two weeks the House of Courage will be taking in its first residents. Located at 865 Catherine Street, deep within a residential neighbourhood in west Victoria, the four-storey facility will offer a carefully selected group their own suites, with meal services, employment and life skills programming delivered by around-the-clock staff.

Operated by theAboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness Society, the House of Courage will not be a clinical rulebound facility that treats its residents like clients, says Executive Director Fran Hunt-Jinnouchi.

“We’re in it for the long haul,” she said. “We’re not about warehousing people. We’re about creating community, culture, decolonized harm reduction deeply rooted in land-based healing.”

Designated elders will be central to the home, fostering a sense of belonging and respect among residents. “Aunties” are also being hired to support residents manage their lives at the House of Courage.

“What actually fosters transformation, healing and change is connection to elders, to community, to culture to strengthen the Indigenous self identity,” said Hunt-Jinnouchi. “All of these things together create a foundation in which they feel stronger, they get a sense of purpose, and with that purpose comes hope.”

Residents will be selected from a list of over 100 eligible candidates, Indigenous people who have been living in Victoria’s converted hotels that will soon close down - or even in some cases people who have come directly from sleeping on the streets.

Hunt-Jinnouchi explains that finding shelter for someone who has struggled with homelessness can be a challenging transitional process reliant on building trust.

“There’s a whole roadmap of trauma where they’ve been let down, where things didn’t pan out as they hoped,” she said. “For many, there is as much fear about leaving that downtown core, because they’ve created family and community there.”

Developing trust within the neighbourhood surrounding the community has also been considered by the coalition, which has made committees with the Vic West

Housing Society to deal with any concerns from neighbours.

The House of Courage was built with a $5.7-million grant from BC Housing, which will also supply annual operational funding, plus $11.3-million in federal funds delivered through the Capital Regional District.

“The opening of House of Courage signifies another critical step toward providing safe and affordable homes for all Canadians,” saidAhmed Hussen, federal minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, in a press release.

The initiative aims to target a grossly overrepresented portion of Victoria’s homeless population. Despite comprising just 4.7 per cent of the city, one third of Victoria’s homeless identify asAboriginal, according to the 2018 Point-in-TimeCount that was conducted March 15 five years ago, the most recent such survey identifying unsheltered people in the city.

Of the count’s Indigenous participants, nearly half were in the foster care system, while 14.6 per cent went to residential school. Nuu-chah-nulth led Vancouver Island’s tribal groups among Victoria’s homeless population.

At 20 per cent, addiction or substance use issues were at the top of the list of

causes for housing loss - ahead of a lost job, poverty or illness – and addiction and mental health support were the most common services needed among those counted.

The House of Courage is prioritizing the management of alcoholism with a designated area on its fourth floor for what Hunt-Jinnouchi describes as “harm-reduction management”. Under the care of a physician and on-site nurse, a resident’s “beverage of choice” will be dispensed at pre-determined times with the aim of mitigating the harmful effects of alcohol dependence.

“There are individuals who have chronic alcoholism – perhaps non-beverage use, other things that aren’t alcohol that are ingested – and often when they get to that chronic area, that part of their addiction, their lives are threatened without alcohol,” said Hunt-Jinnouchi, adding that without the struggles of being on the street, in time an alcoholic can gain more control over their life. “What you actu-

ally see is that they start to have longer periods of clarity and focus.”

While the House of Courage is in Vancouver Island’s largest city, trips to a resident’s traditional territory are an integral part of their healing process, offering chances to experience the wisdom of their ancestors.

Hunt-Jinnouchi recalls when one of these trips benefitted a man who was living on the streets for over 30 years.

After refusing to live within four walls, the man eventually agreed to stay at the coalition’s Culturally Supportive House. While on a trip north he received a “message from the Creator” when a swing he sat on suddenly broke.

“On the way home from that camp he said, ‘I want to go to treatment’,” said Hunt-Jinnouchi. “Thirty years he had a cubby downtown where he panned, he slept, he drank. He’s now 2 ½ years in independent, subsidized housing on the west shore.

Eric Plummer photos

Above: Fran Hunt-Jinnouchi, executive director of theAboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness, speaks at the opening of the House of Courage in Victoria on March 31. Below:Ahousaht members perform at the opening of the facility, which is located at 865 Catherine St.

Budget good for NCN, but not enough for drug crisis

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Ottawa, ON -All in all the federal government’s fiscal plan for this year presents a positive collection of initiatives to help the struggles of many Nuu-chahnulth people, says Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns - although the spending measures fall short in tackling the opioid crisis.

Liberal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland presented the 2023 budget on March 28, a plan heavy on health care spending with a projected deficit of $40.1 billion over the next fiscal year.Approximately 70 per cent of the budget’s new spending is going towards health care, including a national dental program for those who don’t have coverage that alone accounts for $3.6 billion over the next year.

The budget was passed with the support of the NDP, and the dental coverage was included as part of the party’s agreement with the Liberals, who currently have a minority government.

“This was a significant amount of money that we negotiated to support this budget,” said Johns. “The dental care alone is the largest expansion of our healthcare system in over 50 years.”

Across Canada the availability of health care has fallen to critical levels. In British Columbia one in five residents are without a family doctor, forced to rely on walk in clinics and emergency rooms for medical treatment that would otherwise be routine. In Budget 2023 almost $200 billion is committed over the next decade to improve the health care system.

“Patients seeking emergency care have found their emergency rooms overwhelmed. Surgeries have been postponed or cancelled,” stated the budget’s overview. “Our public health care system, and the workers who uphold it, are under enormous strain—a situation that was made worse by the pandemic, and which requires immediate action to deliver better care for Canadians.”

The budget states that people in Canada

are dying from drug overdoses at a rate of 20 per day. Six of these daily fatalities occur in B.C. alone, and Indigenous people are being affected at a rate five times greater than the rest of the population, according statistics from the First Nations HealthAuthority.

Seven years after the opioid crisis was declared a provincial public health emergency, Nuu-chah-nulth families are being hit with tragedy more than ever, including three men who died from illicit drug use in the span of a week in PortAlberni last month. Johns has long pushed for the toxic drug crisis to be given more attention in Ottawa, but this federal budget continues to show that the message is not coming through, he said.

Over the next five years $359.2 million

is set aside for a drug and substances strategy that spans a wide array of programs. These include increasing a safer, prescribed supply of alternatives, supervised injection sites, measures to prevent drug use in young people, better enforcement to attack drug trafficking and more intensive lab analysis of what’s on the illicit market.

“This isn’t even one per cent of what they’ve spent on COVID-19,” commented Johns. “It’s not even close to a response that we would expect from a government in the middle of an epidemic.”

He noted that the “war on drugs” approach hasn’t worked anywhere in North America, as it criminalizes those who are already at the highest risk in using illicit

PA Friendship Center celebrates spring

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter

PortAlberni, BC – The PortAlberni Friendship Center (PAFC) opened its doors to families on Friday, March 31 to celebrate spring.

Guests were treated to spaghetti dinner with refreshments while they chatted. PAFC employees Chantel Lalonde and Roxy Taylor served up plates of food while taking down names for door prizes.

There were fewer guests than expected, likely because the PAFC was hosting another celebration at The Shelter on Eighth. The PAFC was recently awarded the contract to manage the shelter beginningApril 1,

2023.

The dinner was a wonderful way to wrap up Residential School Survivors Wellness Days, also hosted by PAFC.

Over two days residential school survivors were invited to spend the morning

support, or take part in self-care activities, cultural activities, arts and crafts.

The elders were still talking about the great time they had on March 28 and 31 Residential School Survivors Wellness

Days at the family dinner. Funding for the Residential School Survivors Wellness Day came from the NationalAssociation of Friendship Centres. Funding for the spring dinner came from the provincial government.

substances.

“We need a rapid investment; we need a renaissance on how we respond to drug policy like Portugal did. They went out and built 96 therapeutic treatment centres,” said Johns. “It also saves money in health care costs, police, fire, ambulance, criminal justice.”

On the other side of the House of Commons the Liberals are being blamed for drafting a budget with a deficit that is roughly $10 billion more than what Freeland projected in the fall.

“After eight years, Justin Trudeau’s inflationary taxes and spending have created a cost-of-living crisis that is hurting the hard-working people of this country,” said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in a press release. “Canadians are living in desperation, skipping meals, living in their parent’s basements, unable to drive to work, falling into depression, and even considering suicide because they cannot afford the pressure and the bills that this Prime Minister has imposed after eight long years.”

Suicide was actually attended to in the budget, with a 988 hotline operated by the Public HealthAgency of Canada set to be available in November.

To provide immediate help with daily costs, a grocery rebate is being rolled out in the coming weeks, offering single people without children an additional $234, while a family with two kids can expect as much as $467.

“Eleven million people are going to benefit from another doubling of the GST rebate, which we got from the government last year,” added Johns. “Our priority, we’ve made it very clear, is to truly make critical investments that are necessary for Indigenous people.”

Like many across Canada, Indigenous people are being stressed by a shortage of housing, but this issue is particularly prevalent on some reserves, where multiple generations are crowded into the few available homes. The budget notes that since 2015 Canada’s Indigenous housing strategy has invested $6.7 billion into Aboriginal communities, and another $4 billion will be spent over seven years to improve the supply of homes for urban, rural and northern Indigenous people.

Presented in late March, Canada’s spending plan includes a $40-billion deficit heavy on health care initiatives

Denise Titian photo Wally and Donna Samuel and Tim Sutherland enjoy a meal at the PAFC on March 31. receiving counselling

Submitted photo

Although the NDPsupported this year’s budget, Courtenay-Alberni Member of Parliament Gord Johns says that the existing federal support is not nearly enough to change the tide of the ongoing opioid crisis.

First Nations Justice Council centres opening in B.C.

This year two more facilities are planned to open on Vancouver Island for culturally appropriate legal support

By Alexandra Mehl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Since the signing of the BC First Nation Justice Strategy in 2020, a carefully outlined plan with 43 actions to reform the system and restore Indigenous legal traditions, one of the priorities outlined is the implementation of 15 First Nation justice centres throughout the province.

The first four centres in Prince Rupert, Prince George, Merrit, and virtually marked their opening in January 2022.

In late 2022 the BCFNJC announced that the next centres to be opened will be in Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, Surrey, and Kelowna in 2023.

Indigenous people in British Columbia are overrepresented within the justice system, sitting at thirty five per cent of those incarcerated.

With the implementation of the centres, the justice council’s aim is to reduce the number of incarcerated First Nations, redirect them away from involvement in the justice system, Indigenize the system, and provide accessible support when navigating the courts.

“When you think about the history of the justice system and the interactions of it with Indigenous people, it’s been devastating in a lot of ways,” saidAttorney General Niki Sharma. “The laws have worked to colonize people and destroy their own ways of deciding things.”

B.C.’s 2023 budget has committed $44 million to implement and expand the BCFNJC centers, with 10 opening in the next two years and expand to 15 centers by 2026.

Sharma said that she hopes these 15 centers only mark the start of implementation across the province.

“There’s a lot of decisions on where to put them and how to best serve and where the highest need is,” said Sharma. “With remote areas we have to build the proper connections to make sure that centre is serving as many people as they can.”

When centers are set up the BCFNJC is focused on community needs, which inform the service to make it “specific to the area,” said Sharma.

Elmer Frank, elected chief counselor of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, said that one of the barriers that should be consid-

ered for remote communities is the cost of transportation.

Having centers situated on Nuu-chahnulth territory is important so that the nations’values can be implemented within the facility, said Frank.

“If it was in Tla-o-qui-aht or Nuu-chahnulth territories we would be able to request that our cultural values be included in how the operations of the centres are,” said Frank.

“I think that [the centres] really provide a lot of safety because of the fact that there’s now another resource that would be helpful for providing them the necessary information required for their is-

sues,” added Frank. “I think it’ll be really helpful if those centres can provide that kind of comfort to our people who have to live away from home.”

In the next year efforts will be focused on formalizing roles for elders, recruiting more Indigenous people to work within the justice sector, and increasing community justice programming, reads a recent press release.

“Longer term work is the work on understanding Indigenous legal orders and how we, with our colonial justice system, can kind of step back and let that take over,” said Sharma.

BCFNJC photo

The First Nations Justice Council has so far opened four centres to offer legal support for Indigenous people, and plans to open five more of these facilities this year, including locations at Nanaimo and Victoria.

Junior All Native sees heavy Nuu-chah-nulth participation

The Ahousaht-led Vancouver Island Sea Wolves win U13, while the Tseshaht Pride finish third among U17 girls after a come-from-behind

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Nanaimo, BC - In her team’s final game at the JuniorAll Native Tournament, eightyear-old Kai Sam played two minutes.

During her brief but intense time on the court Sam faced players who were as much as five years her senior, in a basketball tournament that attracted 91 Indigenous teams from all corners of British Columbia. Hosted by the Snuneymuxw First Nation, the annual event was held at multiple venues in Nanaimo this year, from March 19-24.

“We put her in for two minutes in the last game,” proudly recalled Sam’s coach Nasimius, Ed Ross, who brought the Tseshaht Lightning into the tournament. “She had two steals.”

Although the lightning were in the tournament’s 13 and under girls category, none of the squad is older than 11, with many players who were introduced to organized basketball in the two months the team had to prepare for JANT. They began with two practices a week at Tseshaht’s Maht Mahs gym, but it soon became apparent more sessions were needed.

“The girls wanted to practice more, so we got another space for them,” said Ross. “We were practicing four times a week and doing conditioning.”

The Lightning didn’t win any of the three games they played at JANT, but their coach is thrilled with the process he has seen evolve for the team leading up to the tournament.

“There was so much growth in that two months. We had girls that were self-conscious, they were scared that everybody was looking at them, they were scared to make mistakes,” Ross reflected. “As a coach, you’re pushing them to the edge. You’re on the cusp of insanity. You’re trying to break them - but not break thembecause there’s no growth in being comfortable, you’ve got to get them out of their comfort zone to push them.”

With the event being held in nearby Nanaimo, this year JANT saw a heavy Nuu-chah-nulth participation, with 14 teams originating from different parts of the territory on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

Among the highest ranked squads in the event was the Tseshaht Pride, who finished second at last year’s JANT in Kelowna.

In Nanaimo Ross’s young players came to watch the 17-and-under girls team for inspiration over the five-day competition, where Tseshaht Pride finished third overall with a 4-2 record, losing to Syilx in the semi-final.

“We were winning by two at halftime, it just seemed that we went south,” recalled Pride coach Joe Charleson of the team’s final game. “It was against a really good

The Tseshaht Pride finished third in the 17-and-under girls division, thanks to a come-from-behind win against the Vancity Nation on Mar The Vancouver Island Sea Wolves won the U13 boys division (bottom left), which also included theAhousaht Guardians (below right). team that we played in the past. We knew that we had to hang with them. Fatigue took over, I think, and it didn’t work out in our favour.”

But in a 25-team division, the coach is pleased with the Tseshaht Pride’s finish. On the day before they recovered from a deficit to win their quarter final, after trailing for the majority of the fist half against Vancity Nation.

“We were down about 15 points in the first half,” recalled Charleson. “In the first half we were kind of doing a front court trap that wasn’t working so well. I switched to a zone defense that worked against the Vancity girls.”

In the 13-and-under boys division the Vancouver Island Sea Wolves claimed the tournament title, beating the Prince Rupert Coastal Pride.

“We got upon them pretty quick at the beginning of the game, 10 nothing or something,” recalled coach Tom Campbell.

“Lots of our guys are tiny guys, but the starting five were fairly well established to handle themselves on the floor.”

Most of the team’s dozen players have family ties toAhousaht, although just three live in the Flores Island community. With players spread across central Vancouver Island, coach Campbell admitted that holding practices were a challenge. He rented the AlberniAthletic Hall four or five times for two-hour intervals on some weekends to give his boys a chance to practice together before JANT.

“I had to travel fromAhousaht to Port Alberni for a day trip,” said Campbell.

“Sometimes our practices were from 4 to 6, so I would travel back in the dark too, in the snow, in the rain.”

In some cases, donations and money was gathered to help parents transport their boys to these sessions.

“Acouple of our players are from single parent homes,” Campbell added. “If we could, we would help them.”

Coordinating practices was also a challenge for the Maaqtusiis Thunder, a 17-andunder girls squad led by coach Luke Swan Sr.

“They have roots toAhousaht, but nine

of them live in the cities,” said Swan. “I had to host a couple of practices in Port Alberni to get us together.”

The Thunder came away from JANT with a 1-2 record, with performances that left the coach pleased.

“It was the first time for a lot of them to play together, the first time for four of them to play basketball,” he said. “Other than that, we faired well for their experience.”

Holding the tournament’s 188 games took months of preparation from the Snuneymuxw organizers, incorporating the help of 137 volunteers to make JANT happen over its several venues across Nanaimo.

Campbell observed multiple games when the Sea Wolves weren’t playing to scout potential competition.

“It’s not just cheering for our own team - it’s cheering anybody else who’s playing, watching games, our next opponent,” he said. “That’s my job, is seeing what the highlight of the next team is going to be. Who do we have to step up on

Nuu-chah-nulth participation

U17 girls after a come-from-behind win

Basketball, ‘It’s in Ahousaht’s blood’

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

defense for?”

“The gym was just nasty loud,” added Campbell about the Sea Wolves final game. “Thanks to our relatives from Tseshaht, they sang a couple of songs at halftime and drowned out everybody else.”

For the young Tseshaht Lightning, they’re already back to practicing, as they look ahead to future tournaments.

“It’s about getting our bodies ready for our spirit, because our spirit becomes 10 times bigger when we’re in competitive mode,” said Ross. “It’s up to us to make sure that we’re giving these kids these opportunities, because you never know where these kids can make it, and who they’re inspiring behind them.”

Ross hopes that his First Nation will one day be able to host a JuniorAll Native Tournament in PortAlberni.

“In the future, we want to host JuniorAll Native,” said Ross, who is an elected councillor with the First Nation. “It’s not just Tseshaht that would be hosting, it would be all of the Nuu-chah-nulth communities.”

Ahousaht, BC - Off the western coast of Vancouver Island, within the rocky shores of Flores Island, an inexhaustible passion for basketball has been breeding for over a generation. On any given night of the week you’ll have a hard time finding free court space in the Maaqtusiis school gym, as the Ahousaht community continues its love affair with a sport normally associated with NorthAmerica’s inner cities.

“InAhousaht basketball is a way of life,” said resident Tom Campbell. “When they’re two or three years old they start throwing a ball through a hoop.”

The community’s deeply ingrained connection to the sport was evident at the JuniorAll Native Tournament in late March. Ahousaht sent at least half a dozen teams to the event in Nanaimo, whereAboriginal squads from throughout British Columbia converged. Campbell was there to coach the Vancouver Island Sea Wolves to its championship in the 13-and-under boys category, continuing a dedication to a sport he has pursued for most of his life.

“It’s inAhousaht’s blood, basketball,” said Campbell, who has found the sport to be valuable in keeping connections. “The friendships that are created, relatives seeing relatives that they didn’t know about.”

With an on-reserve population of approximately 1,000,Ahousaht is particularly young. The most recent census data from 2016 cites an average age of 30, and more than a third of the community’s residents are children.

“If there’s a basketball hoop out there you’re going to see a kid shooting around,” observed Melinda Swan, anAhousaht resident who managed the Maaqtusiis Thunder, another team from the community that competed at JANT in March. “It’s not only the children; it’s young adults too that are using basketball for their own leisure.”

Such an outlet is valuable for a remote community that has clearly struggled with addiction in recent years, according to statement publicized a year ago by acting Tyee Ha’wilth Hasheukumiss. The acting hereditary chief blamed alcohol and its

related diseases for most of the community’s deaths over the proceeding two years, plus incidents of domestic violence, drunk driving and sexual assaults. Hasheukumiss cited a steady flow of complaints from his muschim (commoners) of bootleggers selling to minors, a result of the 300-500 bottles of vodka that he reported were coming to the community each week.

This concern ledAhousaht Ha’wiih to urge that the District of Tofino adopt a bylaw limiting hard liquor sales to two 26 oz. bottles per customer.

But such attractants can be avoided on the hardcourt, noted Luke Swan Sr., coach of the Maaqtusiis Thunder.

“It’s a way of life, it’s a way of getting away from things,” he said.

Melinda Swan added that she’s seen the sport build a foundation in youngsters that might not be offered at home.

“With the group that we’ve managed over many years, they’ve got to be doing well at home, doing well in school to be able to participate and not be involved in smoking or drinking,” she said. “We not only expect

to teach them basketball, we teach them other fundamentals too. Things that they’ll possibly be able to use in their life.”

Over his childhood inAhousaht, Campbell recalls a time when basketball wasn’t as big as it is now. Things changed when hydro electricity came to the community in the early 1980s, allowing a gym to be powered in the evening. When he was a boy, fastball was the big game in the village.

“We didn’t have power when I was a young boy…we were home by quarter to nine, 9 o’clock,” recalled Campbell of a time when facilities relied on generators for light. “If the generator broke down and you weren’t home at night, you were crawling home on your hands and knees.”

“I’ve seen in the past people make attempts to get children interested in soccer and it lasts for a little while,” noted Melinda Swan. “We’ve had skate parks built in our community and it was very popular for a little while, but basketball is constant. It’s something that can happen all year, every year for a lot of years.”

Eric Plummer, Curt McLeod photos the Vancity Nation on March 23 (above and below middle). Guardians (below right).

Curt McLeod photos

TheAhousaht Chiefs (above) and the Maaqtusiis Wolfpack (top) were among the severalAhousaht teams to contend at the JuniorAll Native Tournament in Nanaimo in March.

Museum opens exhibit about Tseshaht cultural leader

Included in the show are works from Nuu-chah-nulth artists who pay tribute to Clutesi for preserving culture

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter

PortAlberni, BC – “He’s given so much to so many, recognition of him is long overdue,” said Shelley Harding, the Alberni Valley Museum’s coordinator and education curator, of the late cultural leader, George Clutesi.

George Clutesi, born 1905, was an artist, educator, scholar, author and actor. He was a strong proponent of teaching Nuu-chah-nulth culture to anyone that would listen, so that it may be passed on to future generations.

TheAV Museum exhibit called George Clutesi: ḥašaḥʔap / ʔaapḥii / ʕac̓ik / ḥaaʔaksuqƛ /ʔiiḥmisʔap is the latest to explore the Tseshaht man’s legacy through his work, art and activism.

“George Clutesi (1905 – 1988) was a cišaaʔatḥ (Tseshaht) artist scholar/educator, activist and actor,” reads a statement from theAV Museum. “He was a firm believer in his traditional ways and lived his life with a core belief of passing on his knowledge to the next generation.”

The Tseshaht words in the title of the exhibit are meant to describe the man. ḥašaḥʔap means to keep, to be protective. ʔaapḥii means generous. ʕac̓ik means talented. ḥaaʔaksuqƛ means strong-willed and ʔiiḥmisʔap means treasure.

According to Harding, the exhibit was about three years in the making.

“It started with the residential school survivors’art exhibit,” said Harding. That exhibit showcased the work ofAlberni Indian Residential School children from the time they were in the institution. The works were discovered decades later in a portfolio of the art teacher and were donated back to the artists.

“He was important to the survivors,” said Harding.

She went on to say that, to theAIRS survivors, Clutesi was approachable and willing to share his language and belief system.

“He embraced everyone he met, and many called him ‘Uncle George’,” Harding shared.

Clutesi authored the children’s book Son of Raven, Son of Deer. Harding recalls reading the book in the fifth grade.

“It’s been translated into several different languages and is read around the world,” said Harding.

He appeared in several films, but is most fondly remembered in the Nuu-chahnulth communities for his role as elder

George P. Hudson in the 1973 movie I Heard the Owl Call my Name, which was filmed inAhousaht.

The exhibit, which opened March 18, features some original art made by Clutesi from the 1940s to the 1970s. There are also some replicas of his art in the exhibit. These framed pieces can be viewed while Nuu-chah-nulth drumming music plays softly in the background.

Also included in the exhibit are contemporary works from Nuu-chah-nulth artists that wanted to pay tribute to Clutesi, thanking him for his contributions to preserving culture. Contributing artists include Tla-o-qui-aht brothers Hjalmer Wenstob and Timmy Masso, Marika Echachis Swan of Tla-o-qui-aht, Dr. Dawn Smith, Ehattesaht, and Dr. Tommy Happynook of Huu-ay-aht.

There is a documentary film that can be viewed in the gallery. Made byAlberni Indian Residential School survivors, the film features seven former students who

share their childhood memories of Clutesi and his advocacy work.

The Clutesi family has selected Tseshaht historianAnn Robinson to share her knowledge of their father and grandfather during the exhibit.

The exhibit was made possible through contributions from the RBC Museum, the University of Victoria, the Bateman Foundation, Canadian Heritage, Heritage

BC, Smyth Chair inArts and Engagement at the University of Victoria and the Alberni Valley Museum.

There will be an opening ceremony by invitation only onApril 22.

The exhibit will be shown at theAV Museum until September 2, then it will be off to other venues like the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver.

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Pronounced ‘Ay mit ish alth liim job tla hork soc eer alth lok alth tle muck stee wik too hok qwii sa hir’, it means ‘there was lots of youth playing, brave, strong, no fear. Rest well you all did so good!.’Supplied by ciisma.

Illustration by Ivy Cargill-Martin

Denise Titian photos

Tseshaht historianAnn Robinson shares her knowledge of family member George Clutesi at a current exhibit of the artist’s work and legacy at theAlberni Valley Museum.

Sight & timing blamed for plane crash into water taxi

Safety board details incident where drivers didn’t have time to respond, at busy harbour lacking in restrictions

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter

Tofino, BC – The inability to see one another until seconds before impact is to blame for a float plane collision with an Ahousaht water taxi on Oct. 18, 2021, according to a Transportation Safety Board of Canada report released March 30.

The accident occurred in the busy

Tofino Harbour in the autumn afternoon over a year ago, when a TofinoAir float plane, a de Havilland DHC-2 MK (Beaver), was coming in for a landing as anAhousaht-based water taxi, the Rocky Pass, was also heading toward the First Street Dock.

According to the TSB report, the float plane had five passengers and one pilot aboard, while the water taxi carried two passengers and the skipper. The float plane was coming in for a landing as the Rocky Pass water taxi was preparing to land at First Street Dock, when the pair collided. Several people on the dock attempted to signal the water taxi operator of the danger, according to the TSB.

The report indicates that both the pilot and the skipper visually checked for clearance before coming in for landing, but, for several reasons including “blind spots”, both did not see each other until a few seconds before colliding. Both vessels attempted manoeuvres to avoid the crash, but time was not on their side.

“[N]either recognized that their routes would conflict until it was too late for evasive action to be effective,” reads the TSB report. “As a result, the aircraft and vessel collided, causing significant damage to the aircraft that required the occupants to conduct an emergency egress.”

One of the pontoons on the float plane was ruptured in the accident, causing it to take on water. Within two minutes and thirty seconds, the float plane went vertical, nose down, sinking, with only the pontoons staying on the surface of the water.

After checking his passengers and vessel, the water taxi operator, Chris Frank ofAhousaht, rescued the pilot of the plane while boats raced in from First Street Dock to pull the remaining passengers of the float plane from the water.

Three aircraft passengers and one water taxi passenger sustained minor injuries in the accident.

The float plane was towed ashore and dismantled. The water taxi sustained minor damage to its starboard side from the

impact of the aircraft’s propeller blades.

The TSB found that neither the pilot nor vessel operator recognized that their routes would conflict until it was too late for evasive action to be effective. They noted that Tofino Harbour is busy with a large number of float plane take-offs in close proximity to public docks that are heavily used by boat traffic.

Add to that, aircraft and vessels operate on different VHF radio frequencies and cannot listen out for each other’s communications.

“[I]f busy harbours that have both marine and air operations do not have designated aircraft landing areas, means for aircraft to signal their presence, and vessel speed limits, there is an increased risk of collision as a result of vessels and aircraft operating in close proximity,” said the TSB report.

As a result of this investigation, the TSB issued a letter to Transport Canada in January 2022 advising them that there are no speed limits for vessels in the Tofino Harbour and that the local authorities in Tofino were unaware of the Vessel Opera-

tion Restriction Regulation.According to the TSB, Transport Canada responded by saying that the local authority has the responsibility to apply for vessel operations restrictions.

Since the accident, TofinoAir provided enhanced safety training to its pilots on emergency procedures and scanning techniques to address blind spots and station-

ary object illusions.

The TSB is an independent agency that investigates air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.

CYPRESS RESTAURANT & LOUNGE

TSB photo

Acrash in October 2021 with a water taxi left a TofinoAir plane capsized (above). The collision occurred at the Tofino Harbour, by the First Street Dock.

President’s Message

Hello to all Nuu-chah-nulth. March has been an extremely busy month with meetings and work. It is good to have a vice-president to share the work with and welcome to Les Doiron to that position. In late March the Vatican through the Pope repudiated (did away with) the Doctrine of Discovery. This was in place in the 15th century through some papal bulls.Apapal bull is a public decree or charter issued by the pope for the Catholic Church. It basically allowed colonizers to go and discover new lands and make them their own regardless of First Nations people living on the land and resources. We have always said the lands could not be discovered because we were already there. Canada and other colonizing countries adopted these papal bulls and the Doctrine of Discovery to say they legally took our lands when they arrived on our shores even though it was our Hawiih’s hahoulthee. Canadian courts said that when Canada asserted its title on our lands it became theirs without treaty, cession or war. We have found this for a long time but the legal system of Canada was set on this old doctrine. It meant we have to prove our title in court, that it is our responsibility to show the court why the land is ours. Now the Pope has said this no longer exists, so we must tell the Canadian government to revisit all its laws and policies and change them based on the fact that this doctrine no longer exists.

The Pope did not take full blame for this doctrine and said nations had politicized this doctrine for their own gain. While it took such a long time to do away with this doctrine, the Vatican should have taken full responsibility for this and provide redress for this and get countries like Canada to do the same. I am sure Nuchatlaht’s lawyers are looking at this and may make arguments before the court on this.

The Transportation Safety Board made its finding public on the floatplane/ water taxi accident that happened in Tofino Harbour in October 2021. They found that there needs to be a designated floatplane landing in the harbour, reduced speeds or means for a floatplane to signal their presence. In February the Transportation Safety Board found that speeds needed to be reduced in Tofino Harbour. This was from the floatplane accident I was in when we ended up upside down by the sandbar. The federal government did nothing with these findings and said it is the responsibility of the local authorities to reduce speeds, not up to them. This is clearly passing the buck. The federal government must change their laws so they change the speeds themselves or order the local authority to do so. This will also be the case if the local authority does not make designated landing areas, the risks of more accidents will increase for sure. Tofino should be made a water airport so it can be properly regulated. The safety of our people is a top priority as are NTC employees. There are also other floatplanes in Nuu-chah-nulth territories like Kyuquot and Gold River.

I attended Gathering Wisdom, which is health meeting. The Gathering Wisdom was held for three days.At the centre of it all was a motion to approve a 10-year strategic plan on the health factors. The motion proposed was focused on Directive 7- high level of operations. The motion passed. There was some good information provided doing the three-day forum.

Like all meetings, there wasn’t enough

time to hear everyone or have the opportunity to talk.

I also attended the B.C. First Nations Justice Council forum for three days as well. The justice strategy has 24 strategies and 46 actions. There were some awesome panels and speakers on many things, including a First Nations court system, developing a women’s strategy, community safety plans, defining the role of elders and knowledge keepers within the justice council. BCFNJC has five Indigenous justice centres and B.C. gave money for 10 more. The next five will be Vancouver, Surrey, Nanaimo, Victoria and Kelowna.

The NTC Budget was passed for all NTC nations and the eight First Nations who work together on a comprehensive funding agreement. Our health agreement also had to renewed and should be signed off on soon. The government is only providing a 2 per cent increase to certain parts of our funding. It does not keep up with the needs of First Nations or inflation and every year it fluctuates, but never a substantial increase. Last year there was a 1.47 per cent increase.

Council of Ha’wiih had a strategic planning session to deal with the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative. Council of Ha’wiih met with the First Nations Fisheries Council and DFO to hear the direction of PSSI and then started strategic planning on how to be involved in the strategy. They are now wanting to meet on Uu-a thluk Strategic Plan with three sessions and hope you will get involved and help the fisheries department set their priorities and direction. Watch for their proposed meetings.

Canada has been asking for action items for theirAction Plan under their United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous PeoplesAct that must be completed by June 21, 2023. We did receive the money from the federal government and we had Michelle Corfield do work on the RCMP. Nene had contract areas of health, transportation, climate change, children and families and education. Hugh Braker did proposed changes to the FisheriesAct. Actions are due byApril 30. I also spent a day with the Chiefs of B.C. on a provincial level to determine strategies and priorities. The federal government has now tabled a draft action plan and I will review that and get directors input on the draft and also send that in to the government.

Take care everyone,

Respectfully Cloy-e-iis

&Community Beyond

Meet and Greet PES staff.

April 5-6, 2023

Community Hall, Ditihdaht

10:00am-3:00pm. Join us for lunch, meet the staff and discover the services we provide to income assistance. For more information, please contact Janice Webster, Southern Region Case Manager Cell:250-720-1131 Email: Janice. webster@nuuchahnulth.org or Laloni Everitt, PES Coordinator Tel: 778-4218807 Email laloni.everitt@nuuchahnulth. org

Tseshaht Health Fair

April 20 - 21, 2023

Maht Mahs ym, PortAlberni

10:00am to 3:00pm daily, the theme is regaining our health. Contact Gail Gus or Melissa Bigmore at at 250-731-6622

Career Fair

April 27, 2023

AlberniAthletic Hall, PortAlberni

9:00AM – 3:00 PM. Nuu-chah-nulth Employment and Training Program and WorkBC Centre are hosting a Career Fair. Free admission and door prizes! Bring your resume and prepare to be interviewed! Need a ride to the Career Fair? OnApril 27th, call United Cabs at (250) 723-2121, let them know you’re going to the Career Fair at theAthletic Hall, and the tab’s on us – so is your trip back home! Questions? Please call NETP at (250)723-1331 or WorkBC Centre Port Alberni at (250) 724-4560

Memorial Potlatch

May 6, 2023

Thunderbird Hall, Campbell River

We are extending an invitation to you and your family to join us as we celebrate the life of our late mother

MARGARET JACK and my perfect late son TREVORANTHONY JACK on May 6, 2023, starting at NOON at the Thunderbird Hall, 1420 Weiwaikum Road, Campbell River. If you have any questions, please messageAnita Baker on Facebook or text/call 778-676-1012

Loonie Toonie Fundraiser

May 6, 2023

Maht Mahs Gym, PortAlberni

10:00AM – 4:00 PM Tseshaht

Elders Fundraiser Loonie Toonie and Concession. Donations are appreciated and will be accepted until May 1, 2023. We are also looking for volunteers to assist on the floor and a team to take care of clean-up.All proceeds from this fundraiser will assist Tseshaht Elders with their travel expenses for upcoming event trips. For donations, volunteers, cleanup, or further information please contact: Elders Coordinator, Gina Pearson at 778421-8867 or gpearson@tseshaht.com

Marcy Keitlah Memorial Potlatch

September 23, 2023

PortAlberni, BC

Your hosts; Calvin Keitlah, Cory Frank, along with Grandparents Marilyn Watts and Rudy Watts Sr.

Employment and Training

Port Alberni Friendship Centre Volunteers Needed

Need work experience? The Port Alberni Friendship Centre is looking for interested applicants for various positions. Call 250-723-8281

Tseshaht First Nation is hiring for the following positions:

ECE Daycare Support Worker

Youth & Recreation Worker

ECE w/Infant & Toddler Daycare Support

For the full job postings visit www.tseshaht. com/employement/opportunities or to apply send your resume and cover letter to apply@tseshaht.com

Tseshaht First Nation Employment Opportunities

NTC COVID-19 Research Project

The Nuu-chah-nulth communities were hit hard and early by the COVID-19 pandemic and were among the first groups of people receiving COVID-19 vaccine. In response to the desire from member Nations to document our experience and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) collaborated with Simon Fraser University (SFU) and National Microbiology (NML) to collect insightful experience and evidence-based information about COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine in our communities.

Purpose of the project

This community-based research project is led, and governed by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC). The main purpose includes:

1) sharing and documenting voices and experiences about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine.

2) measuring the COVID-19 antibody level from being infected and/or vaccinated with COVID-19.

3) investigating side effects following COVID-19 vaccinations.

Eligible participants

This project is open to all people who have association with Nuu-chah-nulth communities, including

1) Everyone who is living in the territories or communities (on-reserve) of participating Nations, including citizens/members of participating Nations and other NCN Nations, other indigenous people, and non-indigenous people

2) Citizens/ members of participating Nations(either registered or not) and their family/ house members living away from home.

3) Employees and volunteers working for NTC or NCN Nations

Data collection

1) Telling our stories, including Elder-led Experience Sharing (Storytelling), Extended Family Talking Circles, and Youth Photovoice.

2) Blood sample collection: Participants can choose to collect dried blood spots or take blood draw from vein by a trained medical professional (nurse or phlebotomist).

3) Questionnaire: a 30-minute, self-administrated questionnaire asking about previous COVID-19 infections and vaccinations against COVID-19 (if any), post-vaccination side effects, and other sociodemographic information

4) Nation/Community-specific needs.

Agenda on the day of data collection

0800 to 0915 COVID19 Research Team Setup

0915 to 1030 Welcoming and Orientation

1030 to 1200 Talking Circle ONE

1030 to 1200 Blood Sampling ONE

1200 to 1300 LUNCH for ALL PARTICIPATES

1400 to 1600 Talking Circle TWO

1400 to 1600 Blood Sampling TWO.

Locations and dates

Port Alberni (Every Other Thursday)

PAF Wellness 3416 4th Ave, Port Alberni

April 13, 2023

April 27, 2023

May 11, 2023

May 25, 2023

June 8, 2023

June 22, 2023

July 6, 2023

July 20, 2023

August 3, 2023

August 17, 2023

August 31, 2023

Nanaimo

St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church 301 Machleary St, Nanaimo, BC

April 17, 2023

May 22, 2023

June 19, 2023

July 18, 2023

Campbell River

1250C Ironwood St, Campbell River

May 10, 2023

June 7, 2023

July 5, 2023

Victoria

Victoria First Metropolitan United Church

932 Balmoral Rd, Victoria, BC V8T 1A8

May 1 and 2, 2023

June 5 and 6, 2023

July 3 and 4, 2023

Vancouver

Vancouver Maritime Labour Centre Auditorium

1880 Triumph St, Vancouver, BC V5L 1K3

May 15,16,17, 2023

June 26, 27, 28, 2023

July 24, 25, 26, 2023

Big Tree Trail labor of love for Tribal Parks guardians

With four tribal parks declared in Tla-o-qui-aht territory, program counterbalances the effects of ‘over tourism’

By Alexandra Mehl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tofino, BC - In 2008, when the Tla-oqui-aht Tribal Parks Guardianship Program took over the maintenance of the Meares Island Big Tree Trail, they had lots of work to do.

Saya Masso, lands director for the Tlao-qui-aht Tribal Parks Guardian Program, has been a guardian since 2008 when the positions were first inaugurated to help implement the land vision outlined in the Tribal Park Declaration.

In 1984 Meares Island was declared a Tribal Park as a means to protect the Island from old growth logging. Since then, three more parks have now been declared, encompassing the entirety of Tla-o-qui-aht territory.

When boats would arrive at the trailhead on Meares Island, there was no dock. They would have to land near the rocks and people would climb off the bow of the boat, explained Masso. Additionally, the trail, originally built from the ‘84 protests, was rotting.

Since then, the Tribal Parks Guardians have been working for roughly 10 summers to rebuild and maintain the Big Tree Trail on Meares Island including the addition of a dock.

It was built from split board cedar from fallen trees, and spruce, pine or fir stringers from construction sites, explained Masso.

“It was such a win when we finally got every board on the trail replaced,” he said.

The Big Tree Trail had carved its way through the serene forest, originally with

Saya Masso, lands director for the Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks Guardian Program, stands with an ancient cedar on Meares Island that was partially harvested by his ancestors hundreds of years ago, but continued to grow.

the destination called the Hanging Garden Tree, said Masso. The Hanging Garden Tree is a group of four trees growing together with a variety of medicinal plants on them, he continued.

Though this tree is still visible from the trail, due to safety measures the guardian team disassembled the path and rebuilt the trail farther away, directing visitors to a culturally modified red cedar tree. This extension of the trail was done by the Tribal Parks Guardian team in the most recent years, Masso explained.

At the end of the trail, stands a culturally modified red cedar tree that Masso predicts was harvested roughly 100 to 150 years ago. The way Tla-o-qui-aht traditionally harvests cedar allows the tree to continue its life and maintains the forest canopy.

Masso said that this tree would have been used for longhouse boards.

Moses Martin, who served for years as a former elected chief, explains that when in court with the province or Canada the Tla-o-qui-aht always had to provide proof of continued occupation.

After conducting research, they found that there are roughly 72,000 culturally modified trees on Meares Island within one hundred meters from the shoreline, he said.

“That indicates the use of cedar bark and planks… for housing and also for canoe making,” said Martin. “All those kinds of things that played into our need to protect the island for continued use.” Among the base of the old growth forest, Masso and his team laid bark mulch to retain moisture and protect the roots of the trees.

“Without boardwalk, the whole trail would be littered with roots that you’re tripping over,” said Masso. “Even before we lay boardwalk, we often bark mulch it, fix it, and then build a boardwalk over it.”

With particular trees around the trail they intend to build platforms over the roots for guide operators and visitors so that these essential parts remain protected.

“Part of our goal of protecting old growth forests is for the immense biodiversity that’s in there, and its resilience to climate change,” said Masso.

“Afully intact old growth forest, the sunlight comes in [and] there’s such a mix of age class of trees.Asecond growth [forest], every tree is all the same age and so it gets really dark,” he added. According to a report conducted in 2018, Tofino saw 600,000 annual visitors, contributing $295 million to the local economy.

The Tribal ParkAllies program, launched in 2018, includes businesses and organizations throughout the community who support Tla-o-qui-aht in their vision.

Allies agree to collect a one per cent ecosystem service fee, which is ultimately reinvested into community efforts such as restoring salmon-bearing streams, community programs, and building a longhouse.

Masso said that there are over 100 businesses in the area that have signed up as Tribal Park allies.

“We’re very aware of the impacts of tourism, and we want to be benefiting from it, and help mitigate the impacts of it through our guardian programs,” said Masso. “We want the million people that come here to know who Tla-o-qui-aht is.”

Masso explains that a “symptom of over tourism via lack of affordable housing” is illegal backcountry campers in the Ha`uukmin (Kennedy Lake Watershed) Tribal Park, who leave refuse behind. The guardian program now monitors this area, and as a result have seen less refuse.

When asked about regenerative tourism, Masso said, “reciprocal relationships are important, reciprocity, [and] giving back for what is taken.”

“Right now, without our relationship to tourism, in a large formal sense it’s abrasive to us,” said Masso. “These are the types of jobs that make you feel that tourism is on the right path.”

“It’s a work of love,” he continued, reflecting on the Big Tree Trail on Meares Island. “I look in the future, and if our grandchildren have jobs replacing boards on this trail, I’m more than happy about that.”

Alexandra Mehl photo