#Namgis #FirstNation #BigHouse - #AlertBay #CormorantIsland. From my 2023 visit.

The Namgis #FirstPeoples use their big house for cultural #community events. #T̓sasała #Cultural Group uses the big house for sharing cultural teachings, songs & dances.

"You will see the next generation of #Kwakwa̱k̕a̱wakw sharing our culture to educate the world about our ancient songs, dances, teachings and values. These teachings are still being passed on today to the children of T'sasała.

You will witness the dances of the T̕seka, our red cedar bark ceremony. You will see the traditional dances that connect us to the land, sky, and sea. The #T̕seka will be followed by the T̕ła'sala ceremony - peace dances, then finally the #A̱mlala or fun dances where you will get a chance to join in."
https://www.tsasalaculturalgroup.ca/

#Indigenous #NativeLand #BCFirstNations #CoastalBC #NativeCulture #BritishColumbia #Canada #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #WestCoast #CoastSalish #ExploreBC #SilentSunday #landscape #photography #RainyDay

#FlashbackFriday
Autumn 2021.
Warming up & chatting with #HereditaryChief Sonny Wallas (David Hanuse), Chief Ye-kue-klas of [Gwat’sinuxw (Quatsino)] nation.
He was sharing with me about feeling bullied/outnumbered by band council folks who are dishonouring their ancestors/betraying Creator & his work with culture & language preservation.

Wallas’s great-grandfather was James Wallas—coauthor of #Kwakiutl Legends. He was the former hereditary Chief of the Quatsino #FirstNation of the Northern #VancouverIsland #Kwakiutl.

Learn more:
https://himwitsa.com/products/kwakiutl-legends

https://hakaimagazine.com/news/northwestern-vancouver-island-likely-escaped-the-ice-age/

Chief Sonny's #Indigenous #linguistic# work:
https://as.amphilsoc.org/repositories/2/resources/3432

https://www.quatsino.org/history

https://www.asparagusmagazine.com/articles/indigenous-communities-on-vancouver-island-are-healing-forests-for-the-future

#IndigenousElders #KnowledgeKeepers #LanguageKeepers #CutureKeepers #NativeWisdom #Decolonization #VancouverIsland #PortHardy #TraditionalChief #NativeChief #BCFirstNations #UNDRIP #LandBack #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #NativeLanguages #Frontlines #Blockade

The #fire is burning very steady now. I brought my big #WhiteSage #SmudgeStick - it's more like a baton - to honour the ancestors fire 🔥

#Indigenous #Esquimalt #NativeCulture #BCFirstNations #YYJ #VictoriaBC #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #BritishColumbia #Cultural #SilentSunday

Beau working with Tyler, from #Esquimalt #FirstNation - crafting the maple branches for day 2 of men's group healing event. These will be used to mount the salmon we will be cooking over the fire this morning.
Beau & I are heading out to meet Tyler soon to build fire, butterfly & mount the salmon & other related preparation work.

It's a gorgeous day in Esquimalt & #Songhees territories. Sunny & warm morning!

#Indigenous #maple #woodcrafting #wood #NativeCulture #BCFirstNations #YYJ #VictoriaBC #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #BritishColumbia

Learn more about #ChiefMaquinna.

This is a collection of words, photos and video clips for Hyas Tyee #Nuuchahnulth - Chief Maquinna. A greatly respected & important Chief of the Nuuchahnulth #Haida People, of the Haida Gwaii Islands, in #BritishColumbia #Canada.

Chief Maquinna (also transliterated: Muquinna, Macuina, Maquilla) was the Chief of the Nuuchahnulth People of #NootkaSound, during the heyday of the maritime fur trade in the 1780s and 1790s, on the #PacificNorthwest Coast.

British explorer #CaptainCook went looking (like so many #Europeans before and after him)or the Northwest Passage. He ran headlong into a thriving trade and business culture on the west coast, overseen by young Nuu-chah-nulth, Chief Maquinna.

The two men's encounter would forever change trans-Pacific trade and teach the European empire a lesson in diplomacy, they've managed to forget, many times over.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkf8fIcyhyc

#BCFirstNations #ColonialBC #ColonialCanada #NativeChiefs #IndigenousChief #NativeBC #FirstPeoples #Maquinna #VancouverIsland #Nootka #VanIsle #PNW #Cascadia #ColonialResistance #BChistory #geopolitics #BCIndigenousHistory #CanadianHistory #PNWHistory #FirstNations #colonialism #BrokenTrust #TruthBeforeReconciliation #Landback #educational #HonourTheTreaties #BCpoli #CDNpoli #HistoryAndPolitics #JusticeForIndigenous

Hyas Tyee Nuu'chah'nulth: Chief Maquinna - The Nuuchahnulth Peoples

YouTube

A Vancouver Island First Nation whose people were the first to greet European explorers in the region almost 250 years ago is taking British Columbia to court, seeking title to their traditional territories and financial compensation.

Chief Mike Maquinna, a descendent of #ChiefMaquinna who met British explorer Capt. James Cook in 1776, says the claim in #BCSupremeCourt seeks to return decision-making, resource and ecological stewardship to the #Mowachaht / #Muchalalaht First Nation.

He says the province has been acting as the sole decision-making authority in the #GoldRiver / #Tahsis areas of northern #VancouverIsland especially with regards to the forest resource, without the consent of his nation.

Hereditary Chief Jerry Jack says the claim filed today seeks title to about 66,000 hectares of land from #FriendlyCove to Tahsis in the north and #ButtleLake in the east, and an undisclosed amount of financial compensation.

https://cheknews.ca/vancouver-island-first-nation-whose-ex-chief-met-capt-cook-files-claim-against-b-c-1228788/

#BCpoli #CDNpoli #IndigenousBC #BCFirstNations #NativeCanada #BCNDP #IndigenousCanada #IndigenousRights #HumanRights #GovernmentOfCanada #NoConsent #Landback #FirstNations #TruthBeforeReconciliation #Reparations #Decolonization #Colonialism #IndigenousJustice #UNDRIP #Legal #BCLaw #CanadianLaw #Lawsuit #Justice

Vancouver Island First Nation whose chief met Capt. Cook files claim against B.C.

A Vancouver Island First Nation whose people were the first to greet European explorers in the region almost 250 years ago is taking British Columbia to court, seeking title to their traditional territories and financial compensation.

CHEK

*White men speak with forked tongues*

The federal government is blocking First Nations leaders in British Columbia from participating in consultations to address the badly backlogged Jordan's Principle children's program, CBC Indigenous has learned.

The move came shortly before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared at the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) chiefs' meeting in Ottawa last week, where he touted his past pledge to find "a new way of working together" that includes "welcoming you to be part of the conversations."

However, federal lawyers had just withheld consent for the B.C.-based First Nations Leadership Council to take part in the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal-ordered talks, citing what the government called "practical reasons" — prompting some leaders to condemn the disconnect.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7406446

#BCpoli #CDNpoli #IndigenousBC #BCFirstNations #NativeCanada #IndigenousCanada #IndigenousRights #HumanRights #GovernmentOfCanada #NoConsent #IndigenousChildren #NativeKids #JordansPrinciple #FirstNations

Canada blocks First Nations leaders in B.C. from Jordan's Principle consultations

Last week, as the prime minister was touting past promises to include First Nations in conversations about their future, government lawyers were blocking First Nations leaders in B.C. from participating in consultations to address a large backlog at the Jordan’s Principle program.

CBC

Watching an Indigenous friend work on a small carving on piece of cedar scrap wood. He gets free cutoffs from some local mills & carves small artworks with them.

#Indigenous #CoastSalish #BCFirstNations #IndigenousBC #NativeCanada #IndigenousArt #NativeArt #IndigenousCanada #handmade #BritishColumbia #PacificNorthwest #Handcarving #Woodcarving #Woodwork #NativeWoodcarvers #TraditionalArt #CulturalArt #Cedar #photography

#ThrowbackThursday
2020.

#Laichwiltach Nation’s Hereditary Chief Tsahaukuse's (aka George Quocksister Jr.) traditional, #handwoven Chief's #hat. Made from yellow #cedar bark with beading & an #EagleFeather attached.
Sitting in front of the woven hat is a row of some #handcarved miniature canoe #paddles, carved from red & yellow cedar. Chief Darren Blaney of the #Xwémalhkwu aka #Homalco #FirstNation #carved over 100 of these paddles. They were carved in #honour of the many young Homalco lives lost.

#Indigenous #CoastSalish #BCFirstNations #IndigenousBC #NativeCanada #IndigenousArt #NativeArt #IndigenousCanada #handmade #BritishColumbia #PacificNorthwest #ButeInlet #ImOnABoat #VancouverIsland #CoastalBC #BCCoast #Cascadia #Salishan #PNW #Comox #photography