First Nations

Ts'uubaa-asatx Chief Melanie Livingstone and Murray Rankin, minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, sign an Incremental Treaty Agreement that will return 31 hectares of Crown land to the First Nation. (Robert Barron/Citizen)

Province transfers 31 hectares of Crown land at Lake Cowichan to Ts’uubaa-asatx Nation

Transfer considered a key reconciliation milestone

Ts'uubaa-asatx Chief Melanie Livingstone and Murray Rankin, minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, sign an Incremental Treaty Agreement that will return 31 hectares of Crown land to the First Nation. (Robert Barron/Citizen)
The remotely operated vehicle ROPOS is lowered into the water during the expedition to the proposed Tang. ɢwan-hacxwiqak-Tsig̱is Marine Protection Area. (Nicole Holman/Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

Expedition explores supervolcanoes and deep-sea firsts in B.C. waters

Footage of superheated geysers, novel images of species behaviour caught off Vancouver Island

The remotely operated vehicle ROPOS is lowered into the water during the expedition to the proposed Tang. ɢwan-hacxwiqak-Tsig̱is Marine Protection Area. (Nicole Holman/Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Speaking for the BC Greens, Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, has called for the resignation of Mitzi Dean as Minister of Children and Family Development. (Government of British Columbia)

Calls for resignation of B.C.’s children and family minister continue growing

Green House Leader Adam Olsen says Dean is ‘entirely incapable’ of delivering reforms

Speaking for the BC Greens, Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, has called for the resignation of Mitzi Dean as Minister of Children and Family Development. (Government of British Columbia)
An unfinished First Nations canoe has fascinated viewers in Ucluelet for the past 10 years and is heading back to Hitaçu. (Andrew Bailey photos)

Ucluelet returning significant artefact to Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ First Nation

Partially carved dugout canoe offers fascinating window into West Coast history

An unfinished First Nations canoe has fascinated viewers in Ucluelet for the past 10 years and is heading back to Hitaçu. (Andrew Bailey photos)
Eagle Feather Literacy and Literacy Central Vancouver Island have co-developed a program aimed at boosting literacy for Indigenous elders. (News Bulletin file photo)

Literacy program in Nanaimo created for residential school survivors

Literacy Central Vancouver Island and Eagle Feather Literacy announce partnership

Eagle Feather Literacy and Literacy Central Vancouver Island have co-developed a program aimed at boosting literacy for Indigenous elders. (News Bulletin file photo)
Kwakiutl master carver Stan Hunt blesses the monument during the June 16 ceremony at Carrot Park in Port Hardy. (Tyson Whitney - North Island Gazette)

Island master carver unveils monument for residential school children

Kwakiutl carver Stan Hunt’s work wrapping up Island tour before Vancouver installation

Kwakiutl master carver Stan Hunt blesses the monument during the June 16 ceremony at Carrot Park in Port Hardy. (Tyson Whitney - North Island Gazette)
A rock with the message “Every Child Matters” painted on it sits at a memorial outside the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, in Kamloops, B.C., on Thursday, July 15, 2021. The discovery of up to 215 remains on the grounds of the former residential school sparked a nationwide discussion about the residential school system. But a recent report has found a “a core group of Canadians continue to defend the Indian Residential Schools System” in downplaying or denying its legacy. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Growing residential school denial ‘the last step in genocide’: report

B.C.’s Indigenous Relations Minister ‘deeply disturbed’ by denialism outlined in recent report

A rock with the message “Every Child Matters” painted on it sits at a memorial outside the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, in Kamloops, B.C., on Thursday, July 15, 2021. The discovery of up to 215 remains on the grounds of the former residential school sparked a nationwide discussion about the residential school system. But a recent report has found a “a core group of Canadians continue to defend the Indian Residential Schools System” in downplaying or denying its legacy. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
Community members, joined by 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, Nov. 9, 2021. Indigenous communities searching for unmarked graves have seen a rise in individuals denying the disappearances and deaths of Indigenous children in the residential school system, according to a new report from the federal government’s special interlocutor on unmarked graves. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn

How ground-penetrating radar is used to find unmarked graves at residential schools

The basic principle is that ground-penetrating radar sends an electromagnetic wave into the ground

Community members, joined by 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, Nov. 9, 2021. Indigenous communities searching for unmarked graves have seen a rise in individuals denying the disappearances and deaths of Indigenous children in the residential school system, according to a new report from the federal government’s special interlocutor on unmarked graves. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn
Timmy Masso and Hjalmer Wenstob hose down a bridge that caught fire at Kennedy Lake. (Jessie Masso photo)

Tla-o-qui-aht family frustrated by lack of response to fire at Kennedy Lake

Timmy Masso and Hjalmer Wenstob help extinguish flames at bridge between Tofino and Ucluelet

Timmy Masso and Hjalmer Wenstob hose down a bridge that caught fire at Kennedy Lake. (Jessie Masso photo)
To build a fence to contain their horses would require an archaeological survey first, said the Pauls who purchased a 78-acre parcel in the Cariboo last summer. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Archaeological discovery dashes family’s dream of farming north of Williams Lake

Marty Paul and Kimberly Tuerlings-Paul bought property at Soda Creek in August 2022

To build a fence to contain their horses would require an archaeological survey first, said the Pauls who purchased a 78-acre parcel in the Cariboo last summer. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
Carey Newman is one of the driving forces behind a project that will add sounds of Indigenous cultures to the Witness Blanket he first began working on in 2012. (University of Victoria/Photo Services)

Indigenous artist collects sounds for virtual Witness Blanket

Carey Newman, creator of world renowned Witness Blanket, seeks sounds from residential schools

Carey Newman is one of the driving forces behind a project that will add sounds of Indigenous cultures to the Witness Blanket he first began working on in 2012. (University of Victoria/Photo Services)
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

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
Canadian Coast Guard members, along with the Port Hardy RCMP, helped paint Stan Hunt’s 18-foot tall Indigenous monument for residential school children. (Tyson Whitney - North Island Gazette)

Monument for residential school children going on tour starting June 16 in Port Hardy

Port Hardy council approved the use of Carrot Park at their May 23 meeting

Canadian Coast Guard members, along with the Port Hardy RCMP, helped paint Stan Hunt’s 18-foot tall Indigenous monument for residential school children. (Tyson Whitney - North Island Gazette)
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
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)
The Greater Victoria School District is hosting an Indigenous film festival for staff for the second year in a row. (Black Press Media file photo)

SD61 hosts Indigenous film fest for staff during PD day

This is the second year of the event, which aims to increase understanding

The Greater Victoria School District is hosting an Indigenous film festival for staff for the second year in a row. (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)