First Nations

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)
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 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)
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)
Richard Nelson, who belonged to the Nisga’a Eagle Clan, will be remembered as a loving brother by his family and as a father figure by the Terrace homeless community. (Submitted photo/Diana Guno)

His last words were ‘I love you’: Sister mourns brother found dead in northern B.C. tent

Richard Nelson, a Tsimshian and Nisga’a man living on the streets of Terrace, found dead in -20 weather

Richard Nelson, who belonged to the Nisga’a Eagle Clan, will be remembered as a loving brother by his family and as a father figure by the Terrace homeless community. (Submitted photo/Diana Guno)
Coquitlam RCMP are asking for help identifying the thief of a Kwikwetlem First Nation totem pole, who took off with the carving in a U-Haul on Oct. 12. (Images courtesy of Coquitlam RCMP)

Totem pole stolen from Kwikwetlem First Nation

Man took off with it using a U-Haul on Oct. 12, according to surveillance footage

Coquitlam RCMP are asking for help identifying the thief of a Kwikwetlem First Nation totem pole, who took off with the carving in a U-Haul on Oct. 12. (Images courtesy of Coquitlam RCMP)
A coal mining operation in Sparwood, B.C., is shown on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. Indigenous communities on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border are trying to build an alliance with Congress and the Biden administration in hopes of pressuring Ottawa into a bipartisan effort to confront toxic transborder mining runoff. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Get tough with Canada over cross-border mining contaminants, First Nations tell U.S.

Coal mining in Elk Valley impacting watersheds

A coal mining operation in Sparwood, B.C., is shown on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. Indigenous communities on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border are trying to build an alliance with Congress and the Biden administration in hopes of pressuring Ottawa into a bipartisan effort to confront toxic transborder mining runoff. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Left to Right, in regalia designed and crafted by Lillian and Alver Tait: Brian McMillian, Wilps Wisin Xbil’tkw (Gisk’aast) representing subcrest owl, Markell Gosnell, Wilps Ksim Xsaan (Ganada) representing subcrest Ganada, Donaldo McNeil, Wilps La’ay (Laxsgiik) representing beaver, Deon Pierre, Wilps Duuk (Laxgibuu) representing subcrest bear. (Michael Bramadat-Willcock/Terrace Standard).

PHOTOS: Northern B.C. fashion show brings Nisga’a talent into the light

Models sported a striking blend of colourful and more sombre tones that reflected the theme of the evening: ‘from darkness to light’

Left to Right, in regalia designed and crafted by Lillian and Alver Tait: Brian McMillian, Wilps Wisin Xbil’tkw (Gisk’aast) representing subcrest owl, Markell Gosnell, Wilps Ksim Xsaan (Ganada) representing subcrest Ganada, Donaldo McNeil, Wilps La’ay (Laxsgiik) representing beaver, Deon Pierre, Wilps Duuk (Laxgibuu) representing subcrest bear. (Michael Bramadat-Willcock/Terrace Standard).
Doug White, chairman of the B.C. First Nations Justice Council, will join the premier’s office at Special Counsel on Indigenous Reconciliation. (Black Press Media file photo)

Coast Salish lawyer Doug White joining B.C. premier’s office to speed reconciliation

White will work on issues held up between multiple government ministries

Doug White, chairman of the B.C. First Nations Justice Council, will join the premier’s office at Special Counsel on Indigenous Reconciliation. (Black Press Media file photo)
Traevon Desjarlais-Chalifoux, 17, was found dead in a closet of an Abbotsford group home in September 2020 after being reported missing four days earlier. His mother testified on the first day of a coroners’ inquest into his death on Nov. 28, 2022. (Credit: GoFundMe)

Mother of Cree teen who died in B.C. group home testifies at coroners’ inquest

Traevon Desjarlais found four days after reported missing in 2020

Traevon Desjarlais-Chalifoux, 17, was found dead in a closet of an Abbotsford group home in September 2020 after being reported missing four days earlier. His mother testified on the first day of a coroners’ inquest into his death on Nov. 28, 2022. (Credit: GoFundMe)
Butterflies in Spirit founder Lorelei Williams (left), UBCIC representative Louisa Housty-Jones, and BCAFN representative Melissa Moses speak at a panel on ending violence against women in Vancouver on Nov. 24, 2022. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)

UBCIC, BCAFN call on VPD to release video of officers mocking sexual harassment

Officers filmed video while uniformed and on-duty, spread it throughout department

Butterflies in Spirit founder Lorelei Williams (left), UBCIC representative Louisa Housty-Jones, and BCAFN representative Melissa Moses speak at a panel on ending violence against women in Vancouver on Nov. 24, 2022. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)
The Raincoast Conservation Foundation led a study of contaminants in the water of the Sumas Lake area following the November 2021 floods. The findings were released Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. (Alex Harris/Raincoast Conservation Foundation)

Painkillers, pesticides and cocaine among contaminants found in Fraser Valley floodwaters

Study of water samples raises ‘fundamental questions’ about health of people and fish

The Raincoast Conservation Foundation led a study of contaminants in the water of the Sumas Lake area following the November 2021 floods. The findings were released Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. (Alex Harris/Raincoast Conservation Foundation)
Discrimination is a near ubiquitous experience for status First Nations in B.C. when they use their status cards, a Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs-commissioned study found. (Screenshot/They Sigh or Give You the Look: Discrimination and Status Card Usage report)

Racism when using First Nations status cards a ‘near-universal experience’: UBCIC study

All but 4 survey respondents reported discrimination when using status card in B.C.

Discrimination is a near ubiquitous experience for status First Nations in B.C. when they use their status cards, a Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs-commissioned study found. (Screenshot/They Sigh or Give You the Look: Discrimination and Status Card Usage report)
Sierra Chi?ela William, right, sits with her grandmother Eileen William, after receiving her sash as a finalist for Miss Canada Petite Global. (Credit: Roger William)

B.C. woman hoping to bring Miss Canada Globe Petite title to Xeni Gwet’in Nation

Sierra Chi?ela William competes for pageant title in Toronto

Sierra Chi?ela William, right, sits with her grandmother Eileen William, after receiving her sash as a finalist for Miss Canada Petite Global. (Credit: Roger William)