Ha Shilth Sa Newspaper September 7, 2023

Kakawin breaching at Alberni’s Harbour Quay

On Aug. 26 orcas were spo!ed in the Alberni Inlet, the closest to Port Alberni that some locals have ever seen

By Alexandra Mehl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

PortAlberni, BC -As the sun was setting on Saturday,Aug. 26 three kakawin, the Nuu-chah-nulth word for orca, traveled into PortAlberni’s Harbour Quay for what some would say is the farthest up theAlberni Inlet they’ve been seen.

Only meters from Fisherman’s Wharf, orcas breached multiple times, putting on a show for the lucky crowd who cheered them on. Soon, videos and photos would be circulated on social media to share the incredible sight.

ThroughoutAugust chinook salmon have been arriving in theAlberni Inlet, making their way to the Somass River system. When the kakawin arrived, the inlet was abundant with the largest species of salmon.

Residential killer whale populations are known to eat salmon and travel in larger groups, whereas Transient killer whales travel in groups of three to seven and hunt marine mammals, such as sea lions and porpoises.

Jennifer Steven, owner of the Tofino Whale Centre, shared that though it was difficult for her to identify the exact species of killer whale because the photos do not provide a clear depiction of their

saddle patch, the off-white spot behind their dorsal fin used in identification, she believes they may be Transient killer whales.

“I would say they are Transient killer whales from what I can see,” wrote Steven in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa. “These whales travel in smaller groups and hunt mammals (sea lions, harbour seals).”

“The breaching activity could be after a kill or hunt,” she wrote. “They could have been celebrating.”

Many believe that the whales followed the chinook salmon through theAlberni Inlet into the Harbour Quay.

“Some say the kakawin also help us celebrate,” saidAaron Watts, a cultural support worker for ʔuuʔatumin yaqckʷiimitqin (Alberni Indian Residential School working group). “The kakawin were not only following the food source through theAlberni Inlet up to the harbour there, but they were celebrating with us as well.”

Watts shared that for Nuu-chah-nulth culture kakawin, among other sea life, are traditionally teachers.

“We’ve learned many ways of life through our animal kingdom,” said Watts.

“The kakawin is one of them who has shown us the strength… and they also have a very powerful spirit.”

Facebook video still

Only metres from Fisherman’s Wharf, orcas breached multiple times onAug. 26, putting on a show for the lucky crowd who cheered them on.

A21-foot totem pole carved by Tla-o-qui-aht’s Hjalmer Wenstob was raised at Ty-HistanisAug. 13, commemorating lives lost during the COVID-19 lockdown. Story on Page 10.

Will salmon be harmed by the 2nd year of drought?

By Alexandra Mehl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Vancouver Island, BC - Since July 13, Vancouver Island has been in a drought level five, making for an earlier dry season than last year. Some experts say that smaller salmon bearing streams could face impacts from the early drought if no substantial and sustained rainfall begins. With last year’s drought causing weeks of delay, entailing salmon holding up and awaiting rainfall, this year is the first time that Jim Lane, manager of biologists with Uu-a-thluk, has seen extreme drought two years consecutively.

“It’s the second year in a row,” said Lane. “I don’t remember this happening two years in a row before, or this early.”

Though last year’s drought was significant, said Lane, dry and low water flow conditions started in September and October. This year it began in late July.

For summers that have very little rain, it’s normal for a section of smaller streams to dry up, explained Lane.

“It’s just a function of the way the hydrology works,” he said, adding that sediment from logging and other activity is also contributing to streams drying up.

“The fact that we’re in such a drought means these things are happening much earlier in the season than they would have.”

According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, drought conditions cause lower water flow and increased temperatures in rivers and streams where salmon run. These conditions cause stress, an increase in the burning of energy, and a decrease in oxygen absorption.

“We’ll have to see if we get some significant rain to get things moving before the

Chinook salmon fill the Stamp River in lateAugust during the late stage of their annual migration to spawn. less impacted since they have higher levels of water.

end of September,” said Lane, adding that cooler temperatures and sustained rainfall would be required to provide ideal environmental conditions for the salmon.

“We’re in a good place here compared to a lot of other systems,” said Graham Murrell, fisheries manager and a biologist for Hupačasath. “We have lots of control on the water flows coming from the lake so we’re able to maintain some minimal flows especially in the Stamp and down through the Somass.”

“We’re in a unique position to buffer some of those drought effects,” Murrell added.

Lane said that major streams in Nuuchah-nulth territory will most likely be

“If we get a prolonged drought that’s where we’ll see negative impacts to Coho,” said Murrell. “They go up all the little streams, they kind of go everywhere, and most of those streams are all dry right now.”

Though salmon are known to travel back to the streams they hatched in to spawn, Lane said that they will likely move to areas with increased water flow.

“You may find fish from one stream going to another one that has water just because they have to spawn,” said Lane. “They may not be able to get into the stream they want to go to.”

Lane explained that for the sockeye this year, they arrived before the drought conditions impacted them, though the Coho and Chinook are currently migrating.

“It’s hard to tell just what the losses are because they can come from very different sources,” said Lane. “You won’t really know until… three [or] four years from now, when you start looking at returns, adult returns, [and] if they’re significantly below… what is average.”

“In 2015 we had a hot [and] dry summer as well, and the rains, they arrived at the end ofAugust,” said Murrell, adding that he hopes this year may also see similar rains to what happened eight years ago.

With level five droughts beginning in mid-July, experts say smaller streams face impacts rainfall doesn’t persist

Eric Plummer photo

Bu erflies released as loved ones think of OD victims

International Overdose Awareness Day comes as coroner data shows the crisis has no sign of abating in 2023

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

PortAlberni, BC - On the last day of August a cloudy sky opened to a rich blue, awaiting the release of butterflies from those whose thoughts were with loved ones lost to drug overdose.

The release of 10 butterflies occurred in the parking lot behind Usma Nuu-chahnulth Family and Child Services’main office in PortAlberni, marking International OverdoseAwareness Day.

Jaimey Richmond, a youth harm reduction outreach worker with Usma, hoped that the event would allow people to think beyond the shame that is often associated with a victim to drug overdose.

“We chose the butterflies because they symbolize transformation,” she said.

“Whatever message you give them is flown up to the Creator. It’s a very personal moment for people.”

Aug. 31 came two days after the latest data was released from the BC Coroners Service, showing that at least 198 people died due to toxic drug use in July, a rate of 6.4 per day across British Columbia.

Seven years into the provincial state of emergency, Chief Coroner Lisa Lapoint stressed the urgency to treat the opioid crisis by spreading a safer supply of prescribed medical alternatives, diverting users from an increasingly unpredictable combination of narcotics available on the street. Over the first seven months of 2023 at least 1,455 people have died due to toxic drug use, B.C.’s highest fatal tally yet from January to the end of July.

“I am saddened to once again report that British Columbia’s toxic drug crisis shows no signs of abating,” said Lapointe. “The unregulated illicit market is highly unpredictable and continues to put thousands of lives at risk each month.

Despite recommendations for the urgent expansion of a safer supply, few have access to a stable, lower-risk alternative.”

This unregulated market includes additives like benzodiazepines and fentanyl, an opioid that has been found in 82 per cent of fatal cases analyzed last year by the BC Coroners Service. Seven years ago the presence of fentanyl coincided with escalating overdose rates, prompting the provincial health emergency to be declared in 2016. Fatalities climbed to 1,562 in 2018, however the next year front line workers and public health officials saw progress in their efforts as the death toll dropped to 987.

But this all changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying restrictions and guidance for people to stay home. In 2020 illicit drugrelated fatalities grew to 1,775, followed by 2,306 in 2021 – a grim rate that has shown no signs of ceasing since.

Seventy-seven per cent of illicit drug fatalities have been male, but Indigenous women have been affected at a greater rate, dying at 11.2 times that of the general female population in B.C., according to the First Nation HealthAuthority’s statistics from 2022.

“It’s affected every single Nuu-chahnulth person,” said Richmond of the opioid crisis. “It’s an everyday occurrence, whether it’s a friend or a family member.”

At theAug. 31 gathering Tseshaht member Trevor Little reflected on how Port Alberni’s Uptown district has changed, where lower 4th Avenue is now considered by many to be the poorest in the city.

“It didn’t look like that before,” he said.

“Everyone young person wants to go out and have a good time. Every young

person wants to loosen up and get to know other people,” added Little. “I would hate to lose young precious lives, because it feels like we can’t get them back if they end up down there.”

Little shared that his sister is currently in the Uptown area struggling with addiction. She raised children at the same time as Little did, but things changed after she got into drugs just before turning 40.

“My sister was a beautiful parent like I was trying to be,” reflected Little. “I miss her, and I feel like I can’t help her.”

As policy makers search for solutions, it has become clear that “using alone can be a death sentence,” said Jennifer Whiteside, B.C.’s minster of Mental Health and Addictions.

“Deaths from the toxic drug crisis can be prevented. However, stigma and fear of judgement too often force individuals into the shadows, using drugs alone and avoiding life-saving resources,” she stated.

In an effort to divert people from the criminal justice system and towards the life-saving supports they need, at the

end of January smaller amounts of illicit drugs were decriminalized in B.C. For at least three years the province has been granted an exemption under Canada’s Controlled Drugs and SubstancesAct, removing criminal charges or seizure for the personal possession of up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA.

It is yet to be determined how this will help a community like PortAlberni, a small city that Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns has called “ground zero” of the overdose crisis, where the fatality rate was double than what occurred across the Island Heath region last year.

In early July Carolyn Bennett, who was then federal minister of Mental Health andAddictions, visited the Walyaqil Tiny Shelter Village, a collection of 20 living units set to open on FourthAvenue this summer. Operated by the PortAlberni Friendship Center, the tiny homes offer around-the-clock support to residents, including harm reduction measures for illicit drug use.

“I think that we’re trying to teach people that this is trauma-informed approach,” said Bennett of the government’s response to the toxic drug crisis. “Certain people have to numb themselves out of the pain, whether it was child abuse, or they fell off a roof and then got cut off their meds and went to the street for their drugs. People require our love and our care, and not jail.”

For Nuu-chah-nulth-aht, the necessary care also entails being exposed to the healing cultural practices of their ancestors, said Richmond.

“We know going back to traditional ways is healing. That’s why at our events or anything we’re doing we’re trying to incorporate culture into that, because so much of the addiction stems from trauma, it stems from what happened in residential schools and intergenerational trauma.”

After Little spoke about his sister on Aug. 31, he shared a song.

“This prayer song I’m going to share originates in theAugust family and was brought to Tseshaht,” he said. “It’s a beautiful story to me about a lady who was lost and needed to be found.”

“Today is about acknowledging and paying our respects to every friend and family member who’s lost somebody,” said Richmond. “If anyone is ever needing that support, we’re just a phone call away.”

CYPRESS RESTAURANT & LOUNGE

Eric Plummer photo

Abutterfly is released in PortAlberni onAug. 31, marking International OverdoseAwareness Day.

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Eha esaht gets heat emergency funding

Grant for disaster assessment and planning part of more than $430,000 across B.C.

By Sam Laskaris Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

Zeballos, BC – Thanks to some provincial funding a remote Nuu-chah-nulth

First Nation will be better prepared to deal with extreme heat.

Provincial officials recently announced they would be providing the Ehattesaht First Nation with $30,000 to help deal with various risks of extreme temperatures caused by climate change.

Ehattesaht officials plan to utilize their funding for extreme heat risk mapping, assessment and planning.

Michele Babchuk, the MLAfor North Island, believes the Ehattesaht funding will be beneficial to the community since it will be better equipped to deal with extreme temperatures.

“We have all seen how extreme heat can affect people, wildlife, and our natural environment, and all levels of government are working to address these risks,” Babchuk said. “The Ehattesaht First Nation’s work to assess and plan for extreme weather will support not only their community, but the entire region as we all face the challenges extreme heat can pose.”

The funding Ehattesaht is getting is part of the more than $430,000 the province is providing to various recipients via the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund.

The fund is administered through the Union of BC Municipalities.And it is intended to assist projects that boost the resilience of First Nations and local governments within the province with their preparations and responses to climate change and natural disasters.

This fund also aims to help community representatives become more informed of the risks connected to extreme temperatures and how these will change in the future.

Recipients can use their funding to develop successful response plans as well as strategies that will help them prepare, mitigate and then adapt to risks their communities face.

The Ehattesaht First Nation was one of 10 funding recipients announced last month, and among the six to receive $30,000 each.

The qathet Regional District, includ-

In 2018 forest fires burned over Zeballos and the Ehettesaht village of Ehatis, causing long-term evacuation orders for some properties. During British Columbia’s worst forest fire season on record this summer, the provincial government announced grants for Ehattesaht and other First Nations and municipalities to help them better prepare for disasters related to extreme heat.

ing its partners Tla’amin Nation and Powell River, received the most funding, $90,000, to be utilized on its extreme temperature assessment and planning project.

“As small, remote communities, we must work together to remain resilient and respond quickly in the event of local emergencies, and we are grateful for the province’s support to help us prepare,” said Clay Brander, the board chair for the qathet Regional District. “We are pleased to be collaborating with our government partners, the Tla’amin Nation and the City of Powell River, as well as the First Nations HealthAuthority, Island Health and Vancouver Coastal Health, to assess the risk to public health and safety, and develop response and mitigation plans for extreme temperature events.”

Last September the provincial government had provided a total of about $1.9 million to 36 First Nations and local governments to use towards their extreme heat projects and strategies.

Besides continuing to provide funds to

deal with extreme heat, this year’s stream was expanded to include extreme cold plans.

Bowinn Ma, the Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, believes it was necessary to expand funding criteria.

“In addition to colder winters, people across the province are feeling the impacts of hotter summers and heat waves,” Ma said. “Extreme weather caused by climate change puts vulnerable people at risk and we need to ensure that communities have plans in place to keep people safe. This funding will help support communities in developing the tools and knowledge they need to better protect people during these extreme weather events.”

The Community Emergency Preparedness Fund was established in 2017. Since then more than $164 million has been given to First Nations and other governments.

That collective funding has helped almost 1,600 projects.

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Nitinaht prepares for fire with new trained volunteers

A dozen locals learn basic response tactics to contain house fires, gearing up to protect their remote community

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Nitinaht Lake, BC - The need for an adequate fire response will always be burned in the memory of Cecil Joseph. He pulled his niece and her family from a blaze about seven years ago, as their house burned in the Ditidaht First Nation’s village by Nitinaht Lake.

“I had to run in,” said Joseph, who had no training in responding to a house fire at the time. “I helped my niece and her children out. Her spouse was in there, but he was sleeping, he didn’t know it was on fire. I woke him up.”

Joseph frantically searched for another occupant in the house as the flames grew. “I ran around the house,” he said. “I started to run towards the entranceway and flames were coming in the door. So our only escape was a window. I got them out okay.”

At the time the community had its fire engine, a 2004 model equipped to carry 900 gallons that was purchased new two decades ago, but the closest hydrant to the burning house didn’t work.

“It was a cedar home, and there was nothing we could do about it,” recalled Joseph. “We had to run the hose 200, 300 feet down the road.”

“Nobody had training,” he added. “We could have saved most of the structure if that fire hydrant had been working.”

Joseph and a handful of other Nitinaht residents plan to change how the community will respond to fires in the future with the formation of a 12-member group of volunteer firefighters. They received training over the last week ofAugust in how to fight a structure fire from a distance, using the village’s fire engine, hydrants and hoses.

“It’s a good experience now. Everybody is learning fast, everybody pays attention,” Joseph observed. “It’s something our community needed because that fire truck’s been sitting for a long time. It’s not really been used.”

Training was provided by First Nations

Emergency Services, a federally funded organization that works to help Indigenous communities prepare for house fires and other incidents.

“That’s our goal, is to come in and stand beside the members of the community, and then kind of step away so they can build more capacity,” said Reo Jerome, a career firefighter with FNES who was providing training. “Any fire department can have a fire hall and a fire engine and equipment, but people need to be trained and respond.”

With no breathing apparatuses on hand, the volunteers were trained to strictly attack fires from a distance, focusing on preventing the blaze from spreading. Due to the presence of synthetic materials in modern house construction and furnishings, anyone near the flames can quickly succumb to the effects of toxic fumes, explained James Fothergill, emergency coordinator for the Ditidaht First Nation. Without a proper oxygen tank, a responder can quickly become another victim of

the incident.

“No one should be entering any structure that’s on fire,” he said, adding that the expected escape time is three minutes from a house fire. “Three minutes down from about 20 in years past when natural fibres were used primarily in furnishings.”

“That’s if your couch is on fire and it’s emitting toxic smoke throughout the building, if you take one or two breaths of that toxic smoke, you’re done,” Fothergill added. “If we arrive at a scene and the building is clearly overcome with fire, with smoke, we can’t do anything about that particular structure. The idea would be to do the best that we can to make sure that it doesn’t spread.”

With no cellular service in Nitinaht, the group was working to determine the best way to alert volunteer firefighters of an emergency.Apossible method could be repurposing the community’s tsunami warning system, said Fothergill.

Hel noted that house fires are the No.

Largest wildfire on Vancouver Island left to burn, deemed no risk to public

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Vancouver Island, BC - This year has nowseen British Columbia’s most severe forest fire season on record, but while blazes in the province’s Interior have caused the evacuation of thousands of people, the largest on Vancouver Island has not warranted suppression efforts.

After being discovered onAug. 6, the Mount Con Reid fire has grown to encompass 2,320 hectares on the mountains west of Buttle Lake in Strathcona Provincial Park, the edge of Mowachaht/ Muchalaht territory.Although the fire is listed as “out of control” by the B.C. Wildfire Service, its elevated, remote location and stipulations in the park’s fire management plan have led the provincial agency to monitor the blaze only, leaving suppression efforts for other wildfires that are closer to communities.

“This fire is being regularly monitored but not actively suppressed at this time as it does not pose a risk to public safety or infrastructure,” stated the wildfire service. “If the fire grows to a point where it

begins to threaten values, targeted action will be taken. Responder safety is a key consideration in determining what action can be taken in the steep and mountainous terrain where this fire is burning.”

Currently Mount Con Reid is being examined every other day by an aircraft patrol.

“We had an officer out on Sunday,” said Jade Richardson, an information officer with the Coastal Fire Centre. “It was burning Rank 1, which is a ground fire. We could describe it as a crawling speed, very slow, no flames visible, and then with little pockets of Rank 2, which is where that becomes a smoldering ground fire.”

Like the several forest fires burning in Strathcona park, the Mount Con Reid blaze is believed to have been started by lightning. Unlike human-caused fires, this is a natural occurrence, and sometimes when public infrastructure isn’t threatened a fire will only be monitored.

“It may be allowed to burn to achieve ecological or resource management objectives,” stated the BC Wildfire Service.

“Due to the alpine nature of it and as

well that it’s burning in a provincial park where there’s a fire management plan, we don’t actually action it with crews at this time,” explained Richardson. “If there was a wind event, something changed and the fire started encroaching upon values or terrain that’s used for the park’s purposes or people to access parks, we may come and access certain portions of it.”

By the first week of September almost all of Vancouver Island was classified under a “high” fire danger rating, although a patch on the north end of Sproat Lake remained the next level up at “extreme”. With autumn on the way the wildfire service hoped that temperatures would continue to cool into the month, allowing the inevitable rainfall to eventually end the Mount Con Reid fire.

“We expect at some point this fall what we call ‘a season-ending rainfall’, which has a large impact on the moisture codes,” said Richardson.

So far over 2.2 million hectares of forest has burned in British Columbia in 2023, causing as many as 30,000 people to be under evacuation orders at one time.

1 emergency priority for the village – even more than forest fires, despite this summer’s extreme drought.

“The biggest risk that we’ve determined is kitchen fires,” he said.

“With the forest floor, the vegetation that’s there, the trees are mostly hemlocks and they’re huge and there’s no ladder fuels.

The actual risk from the campsites is pretty much nil.”

Fothergill said that the community has been working to remove hazards that could cause fires from spreading from one house to another.

“Some areas are pretty well cleared, but some areas are not,” he said. “The hazard is that a house fire

could very easily jump to another house, to another house, then eventually consume the whole community.”

Self-sufficiency in the village is critical, as the average response time from the nearest fire department in Lake Cowichan is two hours. In recent years locals have used garden hoses to deal with house fires.

“I’ve responded to a fire with a garden hose,” said Jerry Peter, a lifelong Nitinaht resident who also underwent the training inAugust. “We caught it in time, but the consequences were there if it went on and on.”

Nitinaht can only be accessed by logging roads, and when residents have called 911, the operator often didn’t know where the community was, said Peter.

“I’ve phoned 911 before and I was on there for 40 minutes, they had no clue where we were,” he said. “There’s no zip code here, so they don’t have a zip code to go by and it doesn’t pop up on the map.”

“We just hang up and phone again,” added Peter.

The community has had fire departments in the past, but through his interviews with former volunteers Fothergill found that frequent medical calls created trauma. The First Nation also plans to assemble a local team who can specialize in medical calls.

“There were some fairly robust firefighting teams over the last 20, 30 years in the community, but things really fell off about six, seven years ago because firefighters were getting caught up a little too much in medical calls,” he said. “The issue being most folks here are related, so when you’re answering a medical call for your niece, nephew, father, mother, grandmother it can be just devastating to the person responding.”

Now that the volunteers have received some basic training, regular practices and recruitment will be needed to ensure that a crew is ready for an emergency. During his work with First Nations Jerome has found it to be particularly demanding for someone in a small community “to respond to an emergency knowing that they’re responding to a family member or a friend almost every time.”

“It is extremely amazing that we have people stepping up to do that,” he said. “In remote communities, everyone knows everyone.”

Eric Plummer photo

Reo Jerome of First Nations Emergency Services talks to volunteers in Nitinaht onAug. 30.

Public input to enhance B.C.’s coastal marine strategy

Key issues raised through public engagement include how to be er protect B.C.’s Pacific wild salmon stocks

By Karly Blats Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

The Province of B.C. with coastal First Nations are co-developing British Columbia’s first-ever Coastal Marine Strategy.

Slated to be released in 2024, the Coastal Marine Strategy will guide the provincial government for the next two decades on setting priority actions to improve the health and biodiversity of coastal marine environments, adapt to climate change, grow a sustainable economy and advance reconciliation.

British Columbia is one of the few maritime jurisdictions in NorthAmerica without a comprehensive coastal marine strategy.

British Columbians were invited to participate and share their values on the broad vision for the coastal marine environment. In addition to more than 900 submissions received in a four-month period from December 2022 toApril 2023, the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship also held a number of open houses in June 2023.

Asummary of the hundreds of submissions received from individuals, environmental non-governmental organizations, local and regional governments, industry associations and businesses across B.C. is now available in the Coastal Marine Strategy’s What We Heard report. The report summarizes key themes captured during the public engagement and will help inform the Coastal Marine Strategy.

“Healthy and biodiverse coastal marine ecosystems that are stable, vibrant and full of life, predictably deliver a range of benefits to people and help mitigate the impacts felt by a changing climate,”

said Nathan Cullen, minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship in a press release. “That is why our government and coastal First Nations have made the co-development of a Coastal Marine Strategy a key priority.”

Key issues raised through public engagement include protecting and restor-

Slated to be released in 2024, the Coastal Marine Strategy will guide the provincial government for the next two decades on setting priority actions to improve the health and biodiversity of coastal marine environments. Pictured is Yuquot, at the mouth of Nootka Sound, west of Vancouver Island.

ing B.C.’s Pacific wild salmon stocks.

“Many respondents suggested that sustainable fisheries and better management of extractive and commercial fisheries should be encouraged,” states the What We Heard Report. “Concerns about open net– pen fish farms and their impacts on the health of Pacific wild salmon populations were mentioned frequently.”

The First Nations Fisheries Council of B.C., who have recently formed the Save our Salmon (SOS) coalition, were not able to commit to an interview with the Ha Shilth Sa before deadline, but did say in an email that they are “working to convene First Nations and Crown governments to work holistically and address the numerous factors that are contributing to the decline of wild Pacific salmon, throughout the life cycle stages from freshwater to marine conditions.”

In order to give Pacific salmon the best chance of recovery, the FNFC said they will be looking at all factors and possible actions, including working collaboratively and in a coordinated manner on

initiatives such as the Coastal Marine Strategy.

Other key issues raised in the What We Heard Report include addressing pollution in the province’s coastal and marine environments, dealing with the impacts of shipping and vessel traffic in British Columbia’s coastal waters and addressing climate change by prioritizing mitigation and resilience from the effects of global warming.

Many respondents also noted the importance of empowering Indigenous peoples in B.C. and includingAboriginal knowledge in decision making.

The Coastal Marine Strategy will concentrate on activities, uses and values that the Province of British Columbia is accountable for in the marine environment, while recognizing the need for strong collaboration and co-operation with First Nations and other governments that share responsibility.

“Such a strategy requires recognition of UNDRIP and needs to actively involve First Nation co-governance, inclusion of

traditional values and perspectives and co-stewardship to ensure the preservation of diverse and healthy marine ecosystems for future generations,” said Damon Nowosad, a biologist with the Q’ullhamunutsunAquatic Resources Society, in a press release. “We are encouraged by this strong initial collaboration and acknowledge the additions of Indigenous ethics, First Nations relationships to the sea and the overview of reconciliation and the rights of Indigenous Peoples sections within the paper.”

The strategic initiatives proposed in the Coastal Marine Strategy will expand on existing programs, present new concepts and identify shared values that will guide provincial actions over the next 20 years.

Once complete, the Coastal Marine Strategy will be strengthened through alignment and co-ordination with B.C.’s Wild Salmon Strategy and the Watershed Security Strategy, which is in development.

Eric Plummer photo

Summer tourist season sunk by highway closures

First Nations businesses remain afloat, despite up to 80 per cent in lost business due to an unreliable highway

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter

Tofino, BC - West coast tourism businesses have been dealt yet another crippling blow after the Cameron Bluffs wildfire road closures kept tourists from venturing to the west coast.

“Atypical summer would mean 100 percent occupancy for us but we’ve averaged about 35 per cent occupancy this summer,” said Maria Clark,Assistant General Manager at Tin Wis Best Western Resort. Tin Wis has 81 rooms that had just completed expensive renovations as Highway 4 closed due to the wildfire.

The Cameron Lake wildfire, discovered June 3, 2023, burned 229 hectares of forest on a steep mountain side on Highway 4, east of PortAlberni. Beginning June 6, 2023, Highway 4 was closed until June 23 as the fire burned. From there, the highway was closed intermittently, for extended periods of time, as work was carried out to make the highway safe. The road fully re-opened to two-way traffic on Friday, September 1.

“It’s been a tough season,” said Maquinna, Lewis George,Ahousaht Tyee Ha’wilth. He owns House of Himwitsa NativeArt Gallery & Gifts, House of Himwitsa Lodge and a smoked fish sales business out of his beautiful building on the Tofino Harbour waterfront. His lodge has five rooms but they, too, have seen an 80 percent drop in business.

Because of the road closures, Clark said Tin Wis Resort has had to honour all cancellations and fully refund their customers. “It’s been a large revenue hit amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars for the month of June,” she told Ha-Shilth-Sa.

According to a report in the TofinoLong Beach Chamber of Commerce blog, tourism businesses west of PortAlberni lost $44 million in revenues up to July 11, 2023. Maquinna says it’s more than $50 million according to a survey he saw from the Chamber.

BC Wildfire Service photo

After being closed for nearly three weeks, Highway 4 reopened to single-lane alternating traffic, with intermittent closures, on June 24. But even during scheduled opening times waits could last for hours, leaving what business owners fear will be a damaging impression on tourists.

In PortAlberni, there have been huge financial impacts on many businesses in a wide range of sectors.

“This is the season to generate revenue and it was severely disrupted by the road closures,” said Jolleen Dick, chief executive officer of theAlberni Valley Chamber of Commerce, noting that the revenues expected cannot be recovered. “There have been increased costs in doing business. For example, some businesses were proactive in planning for overnight accommodations for workers on either side of the road closures. Shipping and freight delays impacted inventory for retail and services provided in theAlberni Valley and beyond.”

Maquinna saysAhousaht Ha’wiih just launched their newAhousAdventures ecotourism business in 2023, offering

boat tours and wildlife watching opportunities.

“We were looking at big numbers,” said Maquinna, of the revenue forecast from AhousAdventures.

But with few tourists getting through, business was down. But Maquinna noted that the downtime gave them an opportunity to work on their boats and staff development.

Over near Tin Wis Best Western Resort, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation also launched a new business, an RV Resort with quick access to the beach.According to Jamie Basset, Tla-o-qui-aht’s Economic Development Officer, putting the finishing touches on the resort came to a grinding halt when Highway 4 closed.

The province offered a long, 3-hour detour on an industrial road to bypass Cameron Lake during closures. “The logging road is rough, nobody would want to haul windows and tiles over it; we couldn’t get the materials to finish on time,” said Basset.

Still, the Tsawaak RV Park and Campground opened but it wasn’t long before cancellation calls came in. “Nobody wants to bring their RV’s over that logging road,” said Basset. “We lost a summer,” he added. Basset went to say the Tla-o-qui-aht invested ‘a fair amount’ into building the resort and it was a tough hit to take on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another indicator of Tofino’s slow tourist season is the wait for a table in local restaurants.According to Basset, you could be standing behind 50 people to get into any given restaurant in the summer but there was no problem getting into restaurants this summer. In fact, some didn’t bother to open due to lack of customers.

Both Basset and Clark spoke to the difficulty in keeping staff following the uncertainty of the highway situation.

Tofino tourism businesses rely on transient workers when they’re in the busy summer season. But with so few tourists, businesses have been struggling to hang onto local staff.

“If you lay them off, you risk losing them,” said Basset. Tin Wis Resort has bumped up their deep-cleaning schedule to make work for their housekeeping staff. “They’re basically doing winter work,” said Basset.

MP Gord Johns is calling on the federal

government to establish a federal climate emergency relief fund for small businesses. In a letter datedAugust 16, 2023, he pressed for fund that would compensate small businesses for loss of revenue due to climate emergencies like the Cameron Bluffs wildfires.

“The economic consequences for small businesses and their employees due to the closure of the only highway to the Alberni Valley and the West Coast region of Vancouver Island has been devastating,” MP Johns said in a letter to Harjit Saijan, the federal minster of Emergency Preparedness. “I urge your consideration of a federal rapid emergency relief fund for small and medium sized businesses suffering the economic consequences of climate related emergencies such as the out-of-control wildfires in my riding,” he told the minister.

The letter goes on to say that the City of PortAlberni and the Districts of Tofino and Ucluelet and nine First Nations are only accessible by land on the provincial highway although a much longer and precarious emergency route has been established. The office of MP Johns has received many calls from constituents urging action on highways although this is a provincial responsibility.

Basset agreed with John’s idea, stating that money always helps, as long as it’s not a loan with interest. “Customers or not, we still have to keep the lights on, pay our managers and service our debts and begin marketing for next year,” he said.

He went on to say that the impacts are not just felt in the moment of the closure.

“We don’t expect things to bounce back next year. People have memories, they are afraid and they might just go elsewhere,” he added.

Maquinna concurred.

“There should be a little bit of help, grace time to pay loans…it would be easy for the feds to give us a tax break – that would really relieve the pain,” he added.

Maquinna went on to say that people of the coastal communities should never be put in the position of being stuck.

“It would be nice if they fixed that road, the alternate route should be paved,” he suggested.

Clark says that Tin Wis Best Western is moving forward with off-season planning as guests are feeling more at ease about traveling with the opening of Highway 4 on Sept. 1.

“We will be offering storm watching rates and, for our local Indigenous communities, a bad weather rate so that they don’t have to travel in scary weather…it will be like the Friends & Family rate,” she said.

She is in the process of looking for grants to ease the financial pressure, like the ones offered during the pandemic that helped cover payroll.

According to Dick, theAlberni Valley Chamber of Commerce has advocated for the needs of businesses.

“The work to measure the financial impact is on-going and we look forward to working with our partners to calculate that amount,” she stated.

“I’m just grateful we’re not going through what other places are going through, like Kelowna and Lahaina,” said Maquinna. They’ve lost businesses, homes and lives. “I’m grateful to keep going,” he said.

All ofAhousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht tourism businesses that Ha-Shilth-Sa interviewed have survived the summer of 2023.

Generations since the last hunt, Nuu-chah-nulth whaling leav

Through thousands of years in the Pacific, traditional Nuu-chah-nulth whaling practices are known to have been ‘meshed absolutely

By Alexandra Mehl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Nuu-chah-nulth people have been traditionally known to hunt whales migrating along the west coast of Vancouver Island for what

Tommy Happynook (Hiininaasim) of Huuay-aht said could be thousands of years.

For Happynook, he comes from a family of whalers who hold the title of head whaling family for Huu-ay-aht. He recalls the last member of his family to hunt a whale was his great-grandfather, Bill Happynook, in the 1920s.

Happynook said that, from his understanding, Nuu-chah-nulth collectively stopped whaling due to declining populations of the animals.

Though whales have not been hunted since, Happynook said that for his family the responsibilities of being whalers remain.

“Whaling still plays a really important part within my family,” said Happynook. “The teachings that we would have aspired to live by every day continue.”

“I try to live by those principles,” he added.

As whalers, his family held a responsibility to provide a substantial resource to the community.

“That meant the meat from the whale, the blubber, which could be rendered and turned into oil or eaten, [and] the many tools and arts that could be created from the whale bone,” said Happynook.

Each family within the community was assigned a piece from the whale so they knew they would receive a portion when it arrived, shared Happynook. Those who assisted with the hunt would have gotten particular pieces to honor their role, such as the head whaler and harpooner, who may have received the saddle, he added.

Harpoons, lances and sealskin floats

According to Phillip Drucker’s the book

The Northern and Central Nootkan Tribes, when a whale was spotted, the canoe moved “noiselessly” in the direction of the animal, with the harpooner at the bow of the vessel, ready to strike.

“The harpooner stood with his right foot on the forward thwart, his left on the gunwale close to the prow piece,” it reads. “He held the harpoon ready, his right hand palm down, his left farther up the shaft, palm upward.”

“The success of the harpooner depended to a great extent on the skill of his crew, particularly that of his steersman,” continued the book, which was published in 1951.

“Picking the right time to do that was absolutely critical,” said Kevin Neary, who has been a researcher directed by Mowachaht/Muchalaht, gaining his knowl-

a Nuu-chah-nulth whale hunt. Carved by Tim Paul in 1975 under the direction of Ben ally housed at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria. Awooden model of a whale (bottom left) was used in preparations for whaling.Amodel of a whale bone (bottom centre), was also used to prepare for the hunt. Both models were collected from Yuquot in 1913 and now reside at the Royal BC Museum. said Happynook.

edge of whaling through research and interviews with Nuu-chah-nulth elders. “The steersman in the back would wait until the whale’s tail was close to the surface in the water coming on the upswing and then he would say, ‘Now’s the time to strike’.”

The harpoon, as Neary describes, would twist and fasten into the whale, like a barbed hook.

The purpose of the harpoon was to strike the whale, connecting it to sealskin floats to slow the whale down, and afterward keep the whale floating once it was dead, shared Happynook.

Neary said that if the opportunity was presented, the harpoon would be used to strike the whale multiple times to add more floats. Happynook said that a lance, a long sharp tool, would be used to kill the whale, puncturing the lung.

“The idea behind it is that if the whale can’t take a deep breath, it won’t be able to dive as deep or pull the canoes out as far,”

Other techniques used to kill the whale include using a special lance that cuts the tendons controlling the fluke of the whale, and then using another lance to pierce underneath the flipper, according to Philip Drucker’s book.

One of the crew members would jump into the water once the whale was killed, sewing up the mouth and blow hole to ensure that the whale stayed afloat and did not sink, said Happynook.

He added that there would be a minimum of four to five canoes helping in the hunt as scouts, supporters, and a canoe to return home to announce the kill to the community so that they could prepare.

“There may have been someone who was leading the hunt, but multiple families would have been participating as well,” said Happynook.

The practice of whale hunting was extremely well designed, said Neary.

Asculpture at PortAlberni’s Victoria Quay depicts

Tommy Happynook

Ha-Shilth-Sa archive photo under the direction of BenAndrews, the piece was orginpreparations for whaling.Amodel of a whale made from whale and now reside at the Royal BC Museum.

“It was meshed absolutely perfectly with the behavior of the whales,” he shared.

Avalued resource that brought wealth

If the hunt brought their crew into another nation’s territory, this was something that they would be mindful of, explained Happynook.

“If a whale took us into another nation’s territory, there was obligations to go to them and share or give an offering… before being able to take the whale back to your community,” said Happynook.

In some archeological records whale bones associated with Nuu-chah-nulth have been found in northern and north central British Columbia, shared Happynook. Neary added that trades extended down the Columbia River, into Washington and beyond.

“Nuu-chah-nulth people were quite wealthy,” said Happynook, noting that their wealth was due to providing a resource that

certain other tribes couldn’t obtain.

“It not only had economic significance, but also incredible cultural and spiritual significance,” said Neary. “It was considered the apex practice for any individual or group of individuals to be engaged in whaling.”

“You spent a great deal of time preparing to hunt a whale,” said Happynook, adding that it likely took most of the year to focus on spiritual, mental and physical preparations, including ritual and ceremony.

Preparations varied from whaler to whaler. Rituals, ceremonies, equipment and tools used to prepare for the hunt would depend on the watershed each whaling family was from and the resources from that area, explained Happynook.

As a whaler, hunting a whale required extensive preparations ranging from physical training, isolation from family, fasting and bathing, tending to the hahoulthee, among other practices.

“It really was a celebration, right, there was a recognition that the whale had some autonomy in allowing us to harvest it,” said Happynook. “Through the various rituals and ceremonies, you were trying to connect to a whale who was willing to give its life so that you could feed your community.”

Ashrine for whalers Yuquot, located on Nootka Island and home community to the Mowachaht/ Muchahlaht, is also well known for the Whaler’s Washing House.

“It was like a shrine where the whalers would go to pray and to sing and to prepare themselves physically, and mentally, and spiritually,” said Neary.

In the early 1900s the shrine was collected by theAmerican Museum of Natural History, and continues to reside in New York.

“[It] is considered to be one of the most sacred collections of Indigenous material,” said Neary.

For each Nuu-chah-nulth nation, whaling is likely to take variations, said Happynook.

“I think it really depended on access to the outer coast,” said Happynook. “For nations who were right out on the outer coast, whaling, I think, could be an easier expedition than for nations who were maybe further down the coast and had to adapt different techniques and ways of practicing whaling.”

Happynook shared that although his family has been displaced from their hahoulthee, čaačaaciias, now known as Carnation Creek Watershed, he has been working towards rebuilding the connections and relationships with that area. This is so that if one day Huu-ay-aht decides to whale again, the Happynook family can participate.

whaling leaves an enduring legacy have been ‘meshed absolutely perfectly with the behavior of the whales’

Painting by Bill Holm called “The Strike” depicting Makah whalers mid hunt.

The Fair Harbour whaling station, pictured in 1910.

The Coal Harbour whaling station, circa 1948.

The Whalers Washing House, pictured before it was taken from Yuquot in 1904.

Awhaler’s neck piece charm displayed at the Royal B.C. Museum.

Totem made to honour lives lost during lockdown

Artist carved the project in his front yard, dedicated to those who didn’t get proper funerals during COVID-19

By Karly Blats Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

Tofino, BC - Tla-o-qui-aht carver

Hjalmer Wenstob has completed and raised a new totem pole at Ty-Histanis to commemorate lives lost during the COVID-19 lockdown and to remember living through a pandemic.

The 21-foot pole, that was unveiled at the reserve onAug. 13, is designed with 28 rings going up the body to honour 28 Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation members who were lost during the long COVID lockdown.

Carved on top of the rings is a healer/

medicine person and above that is a large wooden box that families and loved ones of the deceased were able to add personal items into.

Wenstob said that when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he wanted to create a pole that told a story of what the world was living through.

“Alot of the poles that we’re putting up are retelling old stories and we wanted to tell the story of the history that we’re living through, similar to our ancestors living through smallpox…and really big historical events,” Wenstob said. “That was really the inspiration for the project and my wife,Annika, went and applied

with me for a Canada Council for the Arts grant and we were successful in achieving that, so we were able to do the whole project funded through that.”

Wenstob said throughout the project the design for the pole changed from telling the story of COVID, to remembering and honouring lives lost during the lockdown.

“We had 28 members that passed away in those years.And for those 28 members we weren’t able to gather and have proper funerals because of the COVID restrictions,” Wenstob said. “It was really hard on the nation and families, so this pole and the design of the pole really transformed to be for those people we

lost during the pandemic…but also to celebrate together as a nation.”

Wenstob led the project and was the only carver on the pole, but he had lots of support from family and friends during the months-long process.

“I was lucky enough to have my mom and dad and my brother join almost the entire process of carving the pole. They came over and supported and then of course my lovely wife,Annika and my two kids were with us the whole time,” Wenstob said. “We just carved it right in our front yard, which is right in the centre of Ty-Histanis. We were there pretty much all summer, two months.”

Phrase†of†the†week:†hiiqwa>%a>iš††hitasiik†+uupic^†+iis+iisa@aq†š†aa%a+†tanaa%is

Pronounced ‘hee qwa lath ish hee taa seek clue beach kles kles sa jay alt ta naa is’, it means, ‘Summer is almost over now. Time for children to go back to school’Supplied by ciisma.

Illustration by Ivy Cargill-Martin

Facebook photo

Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation carver Hjalmer Wenstob spent the summer carving a 21-foot totem pole for the Ty-Histanis reserve that remembers lives lost during the COVID-19 lockdown.

West Coast Multiplex Society launches new logo

Group hopeful to see ground break, pending grants for the arena and swimming pool complex near Tofino

By Alexandra Mehl Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tofino, BC -As the West Coast Multiplex Society launches a new logo, designed by Hjalmer Wenstob of Tla-o-quiaht, they strive to see the project breaking ground in late 2024 or early 2025 pending government grants, shared Samantha Hackett, board chair of the group.

In an interview with Ha-Shilth-Sa, Hackett said that they are currently working on design and costing reports as they prepare to apply for funding to shoulder some of the project’s costs.

According to the West Coast Multiplex Society, the facility would provide the use of an NHL-sized arena that would be transitioned for dry-floor use in the summers and a pool with diving boards, a water slide, and hot tub for 8,700 residents living throughout the eight communities in the Clayoquot Sound region.

The space would provide activities such as hockey and figure skating in the winter and soccer, lacrosse, wrestling, gymnastics, pickleball, and tennis in the summer. It has an estimated cost of $50 million.

Though the society was formed in 1995, according to Hackett, they have spent the last 10 years focusing on securing the land, preparing design and costing reports for upcoming grant applications and building relationships with private funders.

“It would be absolutely life changing,” said Hackett when asked what it would mean for the West Coast communities to have access to a multiplex facility.

“Something that Moses Martin has always said... is ‘if this facility saves one life, everything is worth it’,” said Hackett, referencing the Tla-o-qui-aht elder. “I think it’s going to be many more than one life.”

Hackett said it’s important to have a facility that not only emphasizes sports and a “safe and healthy place to play”

The West Coast Multiplex project’s new logo is designed by Hjalmer Wenstob of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. but also focuses the mental and physical health of all ages.

“Recreation doesn’t usually get prioritized a lot in communities,” said Hackett, adding that the society hopes the project will keep families in the region, “giving them something unique and special to be proud of.”

For the project Wenstob’s logo stood out with its depiction of connecting communities, she shared.

“The two canoes [are] about the communities coming together,” said Hackett. “All of the people coming together

to move forward together on the same path.”

The design uses key features from the previous logo such as the mountains, ocean, and sun with the new addition of

two canoes in the water, side by side.

“It’s just going to really pull all of our communities together and be an amazing gathering place,” said Hackett.

&Community Beyond

Nuu-chah-nulth Baby Group

Every Monday

CYS - 4841 Redford Street

10am-12pm. We offer Prenatal and infant development information, special guests, snacks provide and $20.00 food voucher per family. Referrals when needed. NTC Nursing and Doula’s 250-724-3939. Enter from 4th avenue side, building with orange stripe.

PortAlberni Friendship Center –Eating in Balance

Every Wednesday

PAFC

Families line up for new back-to-school supplies

Child and Youth Services hosts event for NCN families

By Holly Stocking Ha-Shilth-Sa EditorialAssistant

PortAlberni, BC - Kids and their parents lined up along 5thAvenue in Port Alberni in front of NTC’s new health services building on WednesdayAugust 30th for the Back to School Support event. This was the first time Child and Youth Services had held this event, which was also jointly organized by Lynnette Lucas, the NTC’s Director of Health Services and SebatienTitone, Manager of Child and Youth Services.

“One thing that was important to us in doing this event, Holly, was to provide kids and families quality backpacks and shoes, because those little things go a long way in making kiddos feel good,” said Titone.

Parents filled out the appropriate forms then the whole family was led down the hallway by staff to pick out a pair of brand new shoes and a back pack. The kids were all smiles and one little girl namedAlison was so excited she had to show Ha-Shilth-Sa her new pink shoes. After shoes the families were lead to the adjacent building to fill their backpacks

with hygiene products like deodorant, shampoo, menstruation products, as well as toothpaste, dental floss and a new toothbrush. Melanie Braker and Taryn Coates, dental therapists with the First Nations HealthAuthority, were also on hand with their mouth models to demonstrate proper tooth brushing or answer any questions and about dental care.

Food was also being served to the families, a menu of chili, hotdogs, pasta salad and fruit prepared and served by the NTC’s health department staff to anyone who was hungry.

Seventy-five children got new shoes and back packs, with over 37 families showing up to benefit from the event. One staff member, KrystineAyer, a program delivery assistant, said “in this economy families need our help now more than ever.”

The event was scheduled to go from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as it was first come first serve, but with the large turn out it was done just before 1 p.m.

When asked if this is going to be an annual event Titone said, “It is possible but at this time there are no formal plans.”

1:00pm – 3:00pm. Participants work together to make a meal, discuss health and food related topics. Participants who work (cook and clean) with the group will receive a $10.00 grocery coupon that can be used at either Quality Foods or Buy-Low Foods. Childminder on premises.Adrop-in group, no registration required. For more information about our program, please call and ask forAmber –250-735-6276 ext. 233.Apart of theASI Early Years program.

Westcoast Community Resources Society Community Lunch

Every Thursday

Westcoast Community Services hub –500 Matterson Drive, Ucluelet

11:30am – 1:00pm. 250-726-2343, admin@wccrs.ca, www.wccrs.ca

Cultural Brushings with Quu asa

Every Friday

Administration Building

9:00am-12:00pm Cultural Brushings in support of the Tseshaht Community. If you have any questions, please call

Leanne Harding,AdministrativeAssistant 250-724-1225

Nuu-chah-nulthArtist Symposium –Hosted by Huu-ay-aht First Nation

September 13, 2023

PortAlberni – Best Western Plus Barclay Hotel

9:00am – 4:00pm Join us for the Nuuchah-nulthArtist Symposium where you can gather, present your artwork, and share ideas. Help us reach our goal of preserving and protecting Indigenous Artists’rights and authenticity. For more information please visit our website at www.huuayaht.org

National Truth and Reconciliation

September 30th

PortAlberni

10:00amAIRS student art display at the Barclay Hotel. 11:00am Walk starts at Barclay Hotel. 12:00pm Celebration begins at Maht Mahs. 50 years has passed sinceAlberni Indian Residential School closed it’s doors. We invite everyone to join us in celebration with a walk to honourAIRS survivors and those that did not make it home, followed by lunch, fun activities, dinner and more! Bring your drums and shawls, wear orange.Ashuttle will be available for drivers to return to their cars. For more information or to make a contribution or donation to this event, please contact Event Coordinator, Esther Charlie at 250-730-3246 or esther. airs@tseshaht.com

NTC Education and NETP Graduation and Scholarship Ceremony

October 13th – 14th 2023

ADSS

More info to come.

Holly Stocking photos Riley, Connor and Tyrone stand with uncle Clem displaying the items they received at the Back to School Support event on Wednesday,Aug. 30.

Port Alberni Friendship Centre Volunteers Needed

Tseshaht member suits up for fastpitch nationals

Thomas Dick played for Abbotsford in the top-calibre softball competition, with ball teams from across Canada

By Sam Laskaris Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

Surrey, BC – Thomas Dick got his introduction to some top-calibre fastpitch softball competition.

And now the 45-year-old Tseshaht First Nation member is keen for more elitelevel action.

Dick was a member of theAbbotsford Builders who participated in the 2023 Men’s and Master Men’s Canadian Fastpitch Championships.

The five-day tournament, held in Surrey, B.C., concluded on Sunday, Sept. 3.

The Builders participated in the Master Men’s category, which featured players aged 40 and over.

As for the men’s division, it was open to players 18 and over.

This marked the first time that Dick has participated in a Canadian tournament.

Fastpitch softball has some noticeable differences from the sport of baseball. Asoftball is considerably larger than a regular baseball. The bases in softball games are 60 feet apart as opposed to 90 feet in baseball. But perhaps the biggest difference is that softball pitchers must pitch underhand as opposed to baseball where overhand pitching is the norm.

The fastpitch variation of softball most noticeably differs from slo-pitch in the pitcher’s delivery while a player is at bat. Fastpitch has a 360-degree full-windmill style underhand throw to a batter, while a slo-pitch pitcher uses a half windmill.

The Builders won just two of the seven games they played in the tourney.

The Ontario-based Cobourg Force defeated Saskatchewan’s Melfort 222 Masters 4-1 in the gold-medal game of the Men’s Masters division.

“Two of the games (we lost) were really close,” Dick said. “If we had won those we would have done a bit better.”

The Builders did manage to register victories over theAlberta Masters Pirates and the B.C.-based Pukaist Masters Heat.

Atotal of eight squads participated in the Master Men’s grouping.

The Builders earned the right to partici-

pate at the national tourney by placing fourth at a regional qualifying event in Kelowna in July. The top four finishers at that competition advanced to the Canadian championships.

Dick, who plays second base, has spent the past several years playing with the Parksville Red Sox, who compete in the Nanaimo Senior Men’s Fastball League. His Parksville squad made it to the league championship final this past month.Asquad called Wheatsheaf Pub captured the league title.

Dick said it was Red Sox coach Gord Alberg who had suggested to him to play with theAbbotsford club this year.

“He was supposed to come with us to the qualifying tournament,” Dick said of Alberg. “He didn’t end up coming but he

henna artist

By Aleesha Sharma

Book your henna session for community events, weddings, birthday parties, school events or any special event.

Phone: 250-730-1262 or 250-720-3096

E-mail: aleesha_sharma1@hotmail.com

did recommend a few of us to be on the team.”

Though some other Indigenous players also participated at the national championships, Dick believes he was the only Nuu-chah-nulth athlete who took part. Dick saw plenty of action with the Builders at the Canadian tourney. He played five full games, and half of another one.

Dick said the level of play was considerably higher than what he is used to in his Nanaimo league.

“My bats weren’t that great,” Dick said of his hitting efforts throughout the tournament. “But my defence was on par.”

Based in part on their fourth-place finish at the Kelowna qualifier, Dick said the Builders were not one of the favourites heading into the Surrey tourney.

“We were like the underdogs,” said Dick, who is a commercial fisherman, and also worked at a PortAlberni cedar mill until it burned down in July. “I was glad to be asked to be part of the team. And I enjoyed every second of it. The last game we played I was just looking

around the field and soaking it all in.”

Softball Canada officials have already announced that the 2024 national tourney will be held in Saskatoon. That event will commenceAug. 28 and run until Sept. 1.

Dick said one of his teammates with the Builders has already expressed an interest in having him join a squad that will try to qualify for next year’s nationals.

Now that he’s participated in a Canadian tourney, Dick said he is rather keen to participate in future ones, including next year’s event.

“I want to train better and be a little bit better,” he said. “I want to see the ball faster and hit a bit better.”

Dick recalled he had previously played in one provincial tournament as a 12-year-old, when his PortAlberni squad competed at its B.C. championships.

“I’ve never played at such a high level of ball before,” Dick said of his experience at the masters event in Surrey. “But the thing I loved mostly was seeing the young kids play in the other (men’s) division.”

Looking for......

Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services are looking for individual/s or families who are interested in caregiving for teens with high-risk behaviors.

The Caregiver(s) would provide 24-hour care in a culturally safe and suppor!ve environment, responding effec!vely to challenging behaviours.

Compensa!on would be built around the specific needs of the youth and the Caregiver, and could include both direct services and financial support to allow Caregivers to meet the needs of the youth.

For more informa on, please call Joni or Julia at 250-724-3232.

Submitted photo

Tseshaht First Nation member Thomas Dick (fourth from left in front row) suited up for theAbbotsford Builders who competed in the Master Men’s category at the Canadian fastpitch championships in Surrey.

Restoration of 1958 Yuquot church continues

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Yuquot, BC - Six years into a restoration project on the remote southern coast of Nootka Island, the exterior of the Yuquot church is expected top be completed this fall.

In earlyAugust members of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation held their annual camping event, celebrating the traditional summer village site that their ancestors congregated on for thousands of years. This summer the Yuquot church wore a fresh coat of paint, the latest upgrade to the building’s exterior, which has also benefitted from extensive repairs to the main roof and steeple, as well as replaced windows, doors, flashing and outdoor drainage.

“It was very damp, so we had to do the outside trench drainage. That’s what they’re finishing off now,” said Robin Inglis, a historian who has worked with the Land of Maquinna Cultural Society on the church’s restoration since 2015, two years before the physical work began. The outside of the building is set to be completed by October, allowing the focus to shift to the interior, with hopes that over the next few years a gathering space that once existed in the basement can be rebuilt.

“The weddings occurred upstairs, but when everybody celebrated it was downstairs,” said Margaretta James, president of the cultural society.

“When it was a church, the basement was used as a community centre. There was a kitchen,” said Inglis. “It’s not always sunny in Yuquot, so it’s nice to have a place if people come.”

Yuquot is located approximately 30 kilometres west of the Gold River dock, a remote settlement where the Williams family are the only household to remain since the First Nation relocated a half century ago. Its rugged coastal location at the mouth of Nootka Sound has allowed contractors to work at the site for only a portion of the year.

The project has been funded through a cost-sharing program with Parks Canada, where the federal department matches expenses that are shouldered by the First Nation. Since 2017 up to $375,000 has been invested into the restoration project.

“It’s expensive to get the whole thing organized, bring out equipment, bring out professional people,” said Inglis, adding that a considerable amount of work is needed to bring the structure back to its original state. “In the 1990s they had done some work at the back in the priest’s quarters, and they had changed the configuration of church. So we had to go back and look at photographs and plans in diocese.”

It was the First Nation’s elders who stressed the importance of returning the church to its original state.

“It’s what the elders wanted. They wanted it returned to their memory,” said James. “It was the community hall where they gathered.”

Originally built in 1958 in the neo-Gothic style, the church features arched windows, buttresses, a bell tower and spire.

At the time the church was dedicated to the Catholic Pope St. Pius X.

“The priest wanted the church built close to the centre of the village,” stated the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation on its website. “Chief Maquinna refused to have the church there as it would be on his family’s traditional household plot.

So the church was built where you see it now, on higher ground and tucked behind

a tree-covered bluff for protection from the elements.”

Adecade later the First Nation was in the process of moving its main reserve community toAhaminaquus, south of Gold River on the Muchalaht Inlet.After many families left Yuquot the church was left to the elements over the following years.

“It’s a wooden building on the west coast. It can’t not be maintained, and that’s why it’s gone into such disrepair,” said Inglis. “The doors are not fitting, the windows were not fitting, and they changed a lot of the windows in the ‘90s, so we had to go back and make the custom-made windows to the original plans.”

In 1997 the Catholic church withdrew its authority from the structure, officially de-consecrating the building. But interest remained from the Mowachaht/Muchalaht, as elders recalled being married in the church when it served a central role for the community. Vibrantly coloured house posts and carvings were erected inside the building, at either end of its main hall. Carved and painted by artists Calvin Hunt, Tim Paul and Ron Hamilton, the pieces are replicas of what once stood in Yuquot big houses in the 1920s that were owned by the Jack and Maquinna families.

It’s a striking combination of elements, in a building that still wears the mark of a Euro-centric worldview.At the church’s entrance are two stained glass windows that were donated by Spain in the 1950s, depicting Europeans in the centre as the local First Nations are in the darkened periphery.

“These windows are now jarring remnants from a colonial past,” explained the

First Nation on its website. “One window shows representatives of Britain and Spain, Quadra and Vancouver, conferring about ‘sovereignty’over Nootka Sound in 1791.”

But although concepts of the area’s history have changed since the Yuquot church was built 65 years ago, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht proudly encourage visitors to enter the building, which serves as “a community gathering place and interpretive centre,” according to the First Nation.

The existing building is the third Catholic church to be built at the ancient village site. The first such religious structure went up in the early 1790s, in the first era of contact with Europeans.At the time the Spanish established a naval outpost at Yuquot, aiming to defend the site from other explorers who might have reached the location from the north, via the Northwest Passage.

“Maquinna kept his people away, because they were always worried about their women being violated,” said Inglis.

“In some ways, when the Spanish made a settlement, Maquinna moved out, they moved everything down the coast. They never really co-habitated in Yuquot.”

But by 1795 the Spanish left Yuquot when it was apparent that the passage throughArctic waters wasn’t possible. This move was welcomed by the local people, explained Inglis.

“There was always an idea that at some point they’re going to leave and we’ll get our village back,” said the historian. “In one Spanish journal I know of, a naval officer says, ‘They’re continually asking us when we’re going to leave’. I think there was some tensions. On the other hand, there was some interaction with trade.”

More than a century after the Spanish settlement was abandoned, FatherAugust Brabant had a Catholic church built in 1889 as part of his mission in the area. This church was famously painted by Emily Carr during her visit to Yuquot.

Brabant’s church burned down in 1954, which led to plans to build the structure that still exists today.

The building’s exterior set to be completed this fall, allowing focus to shift to rebuilding basement kitchen space

Eric Plummer photo Inside stand replicas of house posts and other pieces, carved and painted by Calvin Hunt, Tim Paul and Ron Hamilton.