First Nations

From left: λugʷaləs, Janine and Raven Shaw share a happy moment. Their parents Crystal Smith and Raymond Shaw were successful in getting B.C.’s Vital Statistics Agency to put λugʷaləs’ proper name on his birth certificate. Shaw family photograph

Vancouver Island couple wins battle to get son’s Indigenous name on birth certificate

B.C. Vital Statistics Agency agrees to accept Indigenous language letters

 

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

 

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)
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)
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
In October 2022 Josh Pettinger of Bella Coola stands next the “Huge Rock” described by Alexander Mackenzie’s journals from his journey to the Pacific Ocean in 1793. (Harvey Thommasen photo)

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

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

In October 2022 Josh Pettinger of Bella Coola stands next the “Huge Rock” described by Alexander Mackenzie’s journals from his journey to the Pacific Ocean in 1793. (Harvey Thommasen photo)
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)
Michael Mylonas, from left, Jimmy Lulua, Nelson William and Brian Finnie stand next to a cairn atop a mountain they climbed during their trip across the Coast Mountains from Nemiah Valley to the coast. (Jimmie Lulua photo)

Xeni Gwet’in Bute Inlet hikers converge on Whistler for film premiere

Hikers who participated in historic hike to Bute Inlet to attend film premiere in Whistler tonight

Michael Mylonas, from left, Jimmy Lulua, Nelson William and Brian Finnie stand next to a cairn atop a mountain they climbed during their trip across the Coast Mountains from Nemiah Valley to the coast. (Jimmie Lulua photo)
Snuxyaltwa (Snooks-yell-twa) totem at 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 at the Nuxalk Nation of Bella Coola before it was removed in 1913. (Photo submitted)
Hereditary Chiefs Aaron Hans, Jeffery Snow and Snuxyaltwa (as known as Deric Snow) visit the Royal BC Museum in Victoria which houses family poles. The museum is preparing the return of a pole belonging to the family of Snuxyaltwa. (Mercy Snow photo)

Provincial government ‘pleased’ with pending return of totem pole to Bella Coola

Totem pole due to leave Victoria’s RBCM on Feb. 13

Hereditary Chiefs Aaron Hans, Jeffery Snow and Snuxyaltwa (as known as Deric Snow) visit the Royal BC Museum in Victoria which houses family poles. The museum is preparing the return of a pole belonging to the family of Snuxyaltwa. (Mercy Snow 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) Hereditary Chiefs Aaron Hans, Jeffery Snow and Snuxyaltwa (as known as Deric Snow) visit the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria. (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) Hereditary Chiefs Aaron Hans, Jeffery Snow and Snuxyaltwa (as known as Deric Snow) visit the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria. (Mercy Snow photo)
The Quarterdeck beer and wine store had this old sign hanging up stating it would not accept Indigenous status cards as ID, and it was promptly taken down by new management after it went viral online. (Jozi Child - Facebook photo)

Sign denying status cards as ‘suitable’ ID at Port Hardy liquor store sparks uproar

Liquor store apologizes and removes sign after photo goes viral on social media

The Quarterdeck beer and wine store had this old sign hanging up stating it would not accept Indigenous status cards as ID, and it was promptly taken down by new management after it went viral online. (Jozi Child - Facebook photo)
APTN was filming some of the work carving a totem pole by members of the Nuxalk First Nation in protest of mining exploration work going on near Bella Coola. (Snuxyaltwa photo)

Nuxalk carve totem poles for mountaintop installation around Bella Coola to oppose mining

Totem poles would symbolize Nuxalk opposition to mining within territory, said hereditary chief

APTN was filming some of the work carving a totem pole by members of the Nuxalk First Nation in protest of mining exploration work going on near Bella Coola. (Snuxyaltwa photo)
Blueberry River First Nations, located 70 kilometres north of Fort St. John, and the provincial government have signed what both sides call an historic agreement after a 2021 court decision. (BRFN photo)

B.C. government, Blueberry River First Nations reach land management agreement

Agreement includes restoration fund of $200 million by 2025

Blueberry River First Nations, located 70 kilometres north of Fort St. John, and the provincial government have signed what both sides call an historic agreement after a 2021 court decision. (BRFN photo)