First Nations

Kwakiutl First Nation master carver Stan Hunt’s 18-foot monument to Indigenous children who were abused and died while attending residential schools is taking shape and nearly ready to be painted. (Megyn Williams photo)

B.C. residential school monument ‘asking for these children’s spirits to come home’

North Island master carver finishing 18-foot work in remembrance of residential school children

 

The yellow portion of this map is the Okanagan Shuswap Natural Resource District (NRD), the green are parks and protected areas, and the tiny purple areas are where audit activities were undertaken. They can be seen southwest of Salmon Arm near Highway 97B, southeast of Sicamous near the northwest tip of Mabel Lake, and at the northeast end of Shuswap Lake. (Forest Practices Board map)

Forestry operations near Salmon Arm, Sicamous and Enderby earn passing grade

B.C.’s Forest Practices Board does audit of Yucwmenlúcwu (Caretakers of the Land) forest licence

 

Program manager Ben Whitby shows a similar type of buoy-based wave data collection platform to the one that will be deployed in the waters off Yuquot at the University of Victoria’s Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) lab in North Saanich March 3. (Austin Westphal/News Staff) Program manager Ben Whitby shows a similar type of buoy-based wave data collection platform to the one that will be deployed in the waters off Yuquot at the University of Victoria’s Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) lab in North Saanich March 3. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Researchers hope B.C. First Nation can ride the waves to reclaim their ancestral home

Wave-powered renewable energy microgrid to power Mowachaht/Muchalaht return to Nootka Island

 

Leslie Varley, executive director of BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, says a Hyatt Regency Vancouver employee denied a cultural advisor and staff member of BCAAFC access to a washroom, causing a “public and humiliating” incident. The hotel has since publicly apologized. (Screen cap)

Vancouver Hyatt Regency apologizes to First Nations group after alleged discrimination

BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres welcomes apology, but won’t use hotel for event

Leslie Varley, executive director of BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, says a Hyatt Regency Vancouver employee denied a cultural advisor and staff member of BCAAFC access to a washroom, causing a “public and humiliating” incident. The hotel has since publicly apologized. (Screen cap)
Kukpi7 (Chief) James Tomma of what was formerly called the Little Shuswap Lake Band, now Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw. (File photo)

Former Little Shuswap Lake Band thriving despite loss of Quaaout Lodge accommodation

Kukpi7 (chief) pleased with success of band-owned resource management company

Kukpi7 (Chief) James Tomma of what was formerly called the Little Shuswap Lake Band, now Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw. (File photo)
Gitxsan blockade of CN rail lines near New Hazelton in early 2020 erected in support of Wet’suwet’en opposition to the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline. (File photo)

Chiefs ban RCMP’s ‘militarized’ squadron from Gitxsan lands in northern B.C.

Community-Industry Response Group not welcome on Gitxsan lands, say chiefs

Gitxsan blockade of CN rail lines near New Hazelton in early 2020 erected in support of Wet’suwet’en opposition to the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline. (File photo)
Mowi Canada West salmon farm. (Mowi photo)

B.C. First Nations reject continued fish farming in the Broughton Archipelago

Three First Nations announce their call on region’s last 7 fish farms through consent-based processes

Mowi Canada West salmon farm. (Mowi photo)
Daniel Anthony Wilson (left) is taking on incumbent Byron Louis in the candidacy for chief of the Okanagan Indian Band. (Contributed)

Chief contested in Okanagan Indian Band election, 26 running for council

All candidates forum March 14 ahead of March 30 vote

Daniel Anthony Wilson (left) is taking on incumbent Byron Louis in the candidacy for chief of the Okanagan Indian Band. (Contributed)
Drummers sing as they walk into the Sts’ailes Lhawathet Lalem (Healing House) on Friday, March 3. (Adam Louis/Observer)

PHOTOS: ‘This beautiful work’: Sts’ailes First Nation welcomes 29 baskets home

Ancestral baskets repatriated to First Nation from Kilby Historic Site

Drummers sing as they walk into the Sts’ailes Lhawathet Lalem (Healing House) on Friday, March 3. (Adam Louis/Observer)
Chrissie John (ḥakaƛ) and her partner are committed to teaching their two young children their First Nations language as they grow up. The family is part of an increasing number of First Nations people in B.C. who are working to reclaim their mother tongues. (Submitted photo)

Taking back identity: New learners fight to keep First Nations languages in B.C. alive

Number of fluent speakers declining, but new learners on the rise

Chrissie John (ḥakaƛ) and her partner are committed to teaching their two young children their First Nations language as they grow up. The family is part of an increasing number of First Nations people in B.C. who are working to reclaim their mother tongues. (Submitted photo)
The NK’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course presents stunning views of the South Okanagan Valley. (nkmipcanyon.ca)

B.C.’s first Indigenous Golf Championship tees off in South Okanagan

The event, hosted at Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course, will see 128 golfers compete

The NK’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course presents stunning views of the South Okanagan Valley. (nkmipcanyon.ca)
Family, friends and hereditary chiefs gather in a ceremony in Victoria on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, to witness the historical repatriation of the Nuxalk Nation totem pole after years of effort to release the pole back to the nation from the Royal BC Museum. The pole that embodies the history and culture of the Nuxalk Nation is being welcomed back to its ancestral home in Bella Coola, more than 100 years after it was taken. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Celebration marks repatriation of B.C. totem to Nuxalk Nation after century-long wait

Dancing and feasting to accompany return of totem pole to its home in Bella Coola Monday

Family, friends and hereditary chiefs gather in a ceremony in Victoria on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, to witness the historical repatriation of the Nuxalk Nation totem pole after years of effort to release the pole back to the nation from the Royal BC Museum. The pole that embodies the history and culture of the Nuxalk Nation is being welcomed back to its ancestral home in Bella Coola, more than 100 years after it was taken. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
John Woodworth and Hälle Flygare at the bronze plaque placed on a granite boulder east of Burnt Bridge Creek in Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park on July 31, 1988 when the Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail was dedicated as a provincial heritage site. (Photo courtesy of Halle Flygare)

Efforts afoot to correctly identify one leg of Alexander Mackenzie’s 1793 travels near Bella Coola

Hälle Flygare of Canmore, Alta. has been documenting, researching the trail for decades

John Woodworth and Hälle Flygare at the bronze plaque placed on a granite boulder east of Burnt Bridge Creek in Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park on July 31, 1988 when the Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail was dedicated as a provincial heritage site. (Photo courtesy of Halle Flygare)
Chief Grace George with the Katzie First Nation wants Trans Mountain Corporation to stop work on Katzie First Nation territory. (The News files)

B.C. First Nation orders Trans Mountain to stop work on their land

Katzie First Nation claims work at two sites is being done without proper notice or consultation

Chief Grace George with the Katzie First Nation wants Trans Mountain Corporation to stop work on Katzie First Nation territory. (The News files)
A totem pole is removed and lowered from the Royal B.C. Museum on Feb. 13 as Nuxalk Nation members and others watch on. The totem pole is being repatriated to the Bella Coola territory, its original home before it was taken. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)

PHOTOS: Nuxalk chief ‘teary-eyed’ as totem pole removed from Royal B.C. Museum

Sacred item’s return to Bella Coola will help bring back their stories, says hereditary chief

A totem pole is removed and lowered from the Royal B.C. Museum on Feb. 13 as Nuxalk Nation members and others watch on. The totem pole is being repatriated to the Bella Coola territory, its original home before it was taken. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)
Snuxyaltwa (Snooks-yell-twa) totem to the Nuxalk Nation of Bella Coola before it was removed in 1913. (Photo submitted)

Coming home: A history of the Nuxalk totem and its return to Bella Coola

More than 100 Nuxalk are expected to travel to Victoria Feb. 13

  • Feb 6, 2023
Snuxyaltwa (Snooks-yell-twa) totem to the Nuxalk Nation of Bella Coola before it was removed in 1913. (Photo submitted)
Mehdi Sharifi, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Frances Narcisse, now a Neskonlith councillor and Louis Thomas, Knowledge Keeper with the Neskonlith band, attend a Salmon Arm job fair in October 2022 to help get more Indigenous youth involved in Indigenous food research. (Martha Wickett - Salmon Arm Observer)

Lilies, not fries: Work grows to regenerate traditional plants on Secwépemc land

Knowledge keeper and research scientist join forces to return to healthier more sustainable time

Mehdi Sharifi, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Frances Narcisse, now a Neskonlith councillor and Louis Thomas, Knowledge Keeper with the Neskonlith band, attend a Salmon Arm job fair in October 2022 to help get more Indigenous youth involved in Indigenous food research. (Martha Wickett - Salmon Arm Observer)
The new Neskonlith council, elected Jan. 26, 2023, from left, is: Councillor Frances Narcisse (Salmon Arm), Coun. Joan Hooper, Coun. Shirley Anderson, Coun. Mindy Dick, Kukpi7 (Chief) Irvin Wai and Coun. Brad Arnouse. (Tara Willard photo)

Neskonlith chief defeated after 16 years as leader of Salmon Arm, Chase area band

Judy Wilson replaced by Chief (Kukpi7) Irvin Wai, incumbent Salmon Arm councillor also loses seat

The new Neskonlith council, elected Jan. 26, 2023, from left, is: Councillor Frances Narcisse (Salmon Arm), Coun. Joan Hooper, Coun. Shirley Anderson, Coun. Mindy Dick, Kukpi7 (Chief) Irvin Wai and Coun. Brad Arnouse. (Tara Willard photo)
Hereditary Chiefs Aaron Hans, Jeffery Snow and Snuxyaltwa (as known as Deric Snow) visit the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria which houses family poles. (Mercy Snow photo)

Totem pole returning to Bella Coola, Nuxalk territory, after decades in Victoria museum

The plan is to load the pole onto a truck on Feb. 13 in Victoria

Hereditary Chiefs Aaron Hans, Jeffery Snow and Snuxyaltwa (as known as Deric Snow) visit the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria which houses family poles. (Mercy Snow photo)
The exhibit has been on display since Truth and Reconciliation Day 2022, and its run has been extended to Apr. 2. (Photo/Kelowna Museums Society)

Extraordinary life of Chief Dan George reflected in Okanagan museum exhibit

Chief Dan George: Actor and Activist is on loan from the Museum and Archives of North Vancouver

The exhibit has been on display since Truth and Reconciliation Day 2022, and its run has been extended to Apr. 2. (Photo/Kelowna Museums Society)
Pop-up banner image