First Nations

B.C. housing minister Ravi Kahlon (centre) shakes hands with Coun. Rodney Peters. Kahlon, with Chief Jim Harris (right) announced a 34-unit housing project for the Seabird Island community. (Adam Louis/Observer)

Province announces $20-million housing project for Agassiz-area First Nations community

The project will provide 34 new homes

 

A Chilkat blanket, created in a Tlingit community in the 1800s, is seen in an undated handout photo. A man who is helping return the 140-year-old robe to the British Columbia First Nation where it was created says it’s as if the regalia called out to its people and they are bringing it home. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Taku River Tinglit First Nation

B.C. First Nation buys back 140-year-old robe, paying almost $40,000 to bring it home

The intricately woven Chilkat robe was purchased by the Taku River Tlingit First Nation

 

The Sumas First Nation’s With a Good Heart Powwow, Wac’ipi C’ante Was’te Yuhapi, will return for a second year, June 9-11. (John Morrow/Abbotsford News file)

Sumas First Nation to host second annual With a Good Heart Powwow

Second annual Abbotsford event will include salmon, dancing, drumming and vendors

 

Sasquatch Dancers from the Sts’ailes First Nation performed at Hope Secondary School on Tuesday, May 30. (Photo/Hope Secondary School)

VIDEO: Sts’ailes Sasquatch Dancers perform at Hope Secondary

Hope Secondary School got a taste of Sts’ailes culture on Tuesday afternoon.…

Sasquatch Dancers from the Sts’ailes First Nation performed at Hope Secondary School on Tuesday, May 30. (Photo/Hope Secondary School)
Members of the Six Nations Police conduct a search for unmarked graves using ground-penetrating radar on the 500 acres of the lands associated with the former Indian Residential School, the Mohawk Institute, in Brantford, Ont., Tuesday, November 9, 2021. A panel of Indigenous experts says it will not participate in engagement sessions hosted by an international organization Ottawa hired to provide it with advice on identifying possible human remains in unmarked graves. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn

Advisers on unmarked graves won’t work with Hague-based organization Ottawa hired

The national advisory committee says it raised concerns about the agreement

Members of the Six Nations Police conduct a search for unmarked graves using ground-penetrating radar on the 500 acres of the lands associated with the former Indian Residential School, the Mohawk Institute, in Brantford, Ont., Tuesday, November 9, 2021. A panel of Indigenous experts says it will not participate in engagement sessions hosted by an international organization Ottawa hired to provide it with advice on identifying possible human remains in unmarked graves. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn
Sts’ailes First Nation Chief Ralph Leon Jr. addresses the crowd on the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, 2021. (Adam Louis/ Black Press file)

Sts’ailes Chief Ralph Leon Jr. charged with public mischief

Criminal code offence usually involves making false statements accusing others of committing crimes

Sts’ailes First Nation Chief Ralph Leon Jr. addresses the crowd on the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, 2021. (Adam Louis/ Black Press file)
A woman places one of 215 pairs of children’s shoes on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery as a memorial to the 215 children whose remains have been found buried at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, May 28, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Vancouver brings temporary residential schools memorial to a close after 2 years

City plans to ‘reactivate’ the plaza, including supporting Indigenous weekend markets

A woman places one of 215 pairs of children’s shoes on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery as a memorial to the 215 children whose remains have been found buried at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, May 28, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Colin McKean (left), Calvin Jameson, Mark Kurschner and David Lawes signed a document to officialize their partnership, in Victoria on May 2, to keep the waters and lands of various First Nations communities waste-free. Photo provided by the Indigenous Zero Waste Technical Advisory Group

Indigenous recycling program bridges gap for remote communities in B.C.

Despite the challenges this new alliance is devoted to keeping B.C. lands and waterways waste-free

Colin McKean (left), Calvin Jameson, Mark Kurschner and David Lawes signed a document to officialize their partnership, in Victoria on May 2, to keep the waters and lands of various First Nations communities waste-free. Photo provided by the Indigenous Zero Waste Technical Advisory Group
Kanaka Bar Indian Band in Lytton is among the recipients of funding through the Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program. It is distributing more than $1.1 million to 15 First Nations projects designed to improve food security and food sovereignty. (Black Press Media file photo) Kanaka Bar Indian Band in Lytton is among the recipients of funding through the Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program. It is distributing more than $1.1 million to 15 First Nations projects designed to improve food security and food sovereignty. Kanaka Bar Indian Band sign, no date. (Black Press Media file photo)

Indigenous-led projects get $1.1M to grow food security

15 projects get boost from Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program

Kanaka Bar Indian Band in Lytton is among the recipients of funding through the Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program. It is distributing more than $1.1 million to 15 First Nations projects designed to improve food security and food sovereignty. (Black Press Media file photo) Kanaka Bar Indian Band in Lytton is among the recipients of funding through the Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program. It is distributing more than $1.1 million to 15 First Nations projects designed to improve food security and food sovereignty. Kanaka Bar Indian Band sign, no date. (Black Press Media file photo)
Properties on Raven Road along Saskatoon Road adjacent to the mouth of Whiteman’s Creek in Parker Cove on Okanagan Indian Band land are no longer under an evacuation order due to flooding as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Google Earth/OKIB)

Flooding evacuation order lifted for more Okanagan properties

Flooding has peaked in the Parker Cove area

Properties on Raven Road along Saskatoon Road adjacent to the mouth of Whiteman’s Creek in Parker Cove on Okanagan Indian Band land are no longer under an evacuation order due to flooding as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Google Earth/OKIB)
Chief Harley Chingee of McLeod Lake Indian Band, second from left, says his people remain committed to the forestry sector despite its current struggles after signing two agreements with the province. Nathan Cullen, minister of water, land and resource stewardship, Josie Osborne, minister of energy, mines and low carbon innovation, and Murray Rankin, minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, helped to mark the agreements outside the legislature. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Chief Harley Chingee says forestry remains the ‘bread and butter’ of McLeod Lake Indian Band

Northern band becomes latest Treaty 8 signatory to sign revenue-sharing agreement with province

Chief Harley Chingee of McLeod Lake Indian Band, second from left, says his people remain committed to the forestry sector despite its current struggles after signing two agreements with the province. Nathan Cullen, minister of water, land and resource stewardship, Josie Osborne, minister of energy, mines and low carbon innovation, and Murray Rankin, minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, helped to mark the agreements outside the legislature. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth, says children and youth lost and missing from the child welfare system are “canaries in the coal mine” of a child welfare system that is “struggling to provide safe, nurturing and timely care” for them. (Black Press Media file photo) (InWithForward)

’Canaries in the coal mine’: Report highlights missing child, youth within B.C.’s welfare system

Report finds ‘systemic’ challenges in child welfare system but finds problems across social systems

Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth, says children and youth lost and missing from the child welfare system are “canaries in the coal mine” of a child welfare system that is “struggling to provide safe, nurturing and timely care” for them. (Black Press Media file photo) (InWithForward)
Ongoing repairs to the Sumas Dike are included among Abbotsford flood-recovery projects that are receiving $5.28 million in funding from the province. Meanwhile, the multi-government Sumas River Flood Mitigation Collaborative Framework was signed by the various partners on Friday (April 27). (John Morrow/Abbotsford News)

Abbotsford, Chilliwack, First Nations and province sign flood-mitigation framework

More than $8.5M designated for pump-station upgrades and infrastructure repairs

Ongoing repairs to the Sumas Dike are included among Abbotsford flood-recovery projects that are receiving $5.28 million in funding from the province. Meanwhile, the multi-government Sumas River Flood Mitigation Collaborative Framework was signed by the various partners on Friday (April 27). (John Morrow/Abbotsford News)
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, here seen in 2022, welcomes $200 million for implementation of UNDRIP (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. commits $200 million to implementation of UN Indigenous standard

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs calls UNDRIP funding historic

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, here seen in 2022, welcomes $200 million for implementation of UNDRIP (Black Press Media file photo)
Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project construction in the back field at Vedder Middle School in Chilliwack on July 29, 2022. (Paul Henderson/ Black Press Media)

B.C. First Nation, UBCIC urge banks to stop financing Trans Mountain expansion project

Groups urging banks to reconsider the $10 billion loan currently being negotiated

  • Apr 25, 2023
Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project construction in the back field at Vedder Middle School in Chilliwack on July 29, 2022. (Paul Henderson/ Black Press Media)
Protesters march out of Oppenheimer Park along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

Toxic drug deaths response, care now top priority for First Nations Health Authority

When looking at abstinence as only option, it creates stigma, fear and shame: FNHA

Protesters march out of Oppenheimer Park along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Photo: Lauren Collins)
The First Nations Health Authority have released the 2022 data on toxic drug deaths for Indigenous people in B.C. Dr. Nel Wieman with the First Nations Health Authority speaks about the illicit drug toxicity deaths in the province and about the effect on First Nation’s communities during a press conference at B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, February 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

First Nations ‘particularly and disproportionately’ overrepresented among B.C. toxic drug deaths

First Nations Health Authority releases 2022 data; detail plans for public health response

The First Nations Health Authority have released the 2022 data on toxic drug deaths for Indigenous people in B.C. Dr. Nel Wieman with the First Nations Health Authority speaks about the illicit drug toxicity deaths in the province and about the effect on First Nation’s communities during a press conference at B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, February 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Leadership Council is calling for changes to the Cannabis Act for communities to better access the benefits of legalization. Kootenay Krush Farms is located near Parsons. (Black Press Media File)

First Nations group calls for changes to Cannabis Act

First Nations Leadership Council says rights, needs ignored by colonial government during legalization

Leadership Council is calling for changes to the Cannabis Act for communities to better access the benefits of legalization. Kootenay Krush Farms is located near Parsons. (Black Press Media File)
Michaela Gilbert, a young WLFN artist studying fine arts at the University of Victoria, in her studio space with some of her artwork. (Satya Underhill Garcia)

Telus art features Cariboo, Chilcotin First Nations artists

“Opportunities like that, we would not have ever dreamed of before,” said artist Barbara Derrick

Michaela Gilbert, a young WLFN artist studying fine arts at the University of Victoria, in her studio space with some of her artwork. (Satya Underhill Garcia)
Nits’ilʔin (Chief) Joe Alphonse received his Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Victoria Nov. 10. for his leadership over many years to compel respect for Indigenous law, title and jurisdiction in Canada. Alphonse will be in New York at the UN forum on Indigenous issues that begins April 17, 2023. (Photo submitted)

Tsilhqot’in chiefs attending United Nations forum on Indigenous issues in New York City

Chief Joe Alphonse will address the delegates

Nits’ilʔin (Chief) Joe Alphonse received his Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Victoria Nov. 10. for his leadership over many years to compel respect for Indigenous law, title and jurisdiction in Canada. Alphonse will be in New York at the UN forum on Indigenous issues that begins April 17, 2023. (Photo submitted)