Indigenous

Two hundred and fifteen lights are placed on the lawn outside the Residential School in Kamloops, B.C., Saturday, June, 13, 2021. The remains of 215 children were discovered buried near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School earlier this month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Tk’emlups Nation extends invitation to mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Nation encouraging participants to teach the honour song in schools, workplaces and at home

Two hundred and fifteen lights are placed on the lawn outside the Residential School in Kamloops, B.C., Saturday, June, 13, 2021. The remains of 215 children were discovered buried near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School earlier this month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Stephanie Bernard at a walk/run event in Port Hardy. (Stephanie Bernard photo)

Breaking the cycle: An Indigenous woman’s search for ‘Sanala’

Intergenerational residential schools trauma shared for the ‘Sacred and Strong’ report

Stephanie Bernard at a walk/run event in Port Hardy. (Stephanie Bernard photo)
Tom LaFortune, left, Steve Sxwithul’txw and Snuneymuxw Chief Michael Wyse were among those in attendance for a cheque presentation at the band office Sept. 15. LaFortune and Sxwithul’txw organized a GoFundMe campaign, with proceeds funding a search for unmarked graves at a site in Nanaimo. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)

First Nation welcomes donation to help with search of Nanaimo Indian Hospital site

Snuneymuxw Chief Michael Wyse says former patients have said the grounds need to be examined

Tom LaFortune, left, Steve Sxwithul’txw and Snuneymuxw Chief Michael Wyse were among those in attendance for a cheque presentation at the band office Sept. 15. LaFortune and Sxwithul’txw organized a GoFundMe campaign, with proceeds funding a search for unmarked graves at a site in Nanaimo. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)
Camosun President Sherri Bell delivers a speech at the college’s 50th anniversary at the Interurban campus. (Megan Atkins-Baker/News Staff)

VIDEO: Camosun College celebrates 50th with Indigenous art unveiling in Saanich

Tsawout artist, college alumnus Bear Horne creates 18-foot house post for Interurban campus

Camosun President Sherri Bell delivers a speech at the college’s 50th anniversary at the Interurban campus. (Megan Atkins-Baker/News Staff)
Phyllis Webstad, founder of Orange Shirt Day, speaks in Vancouver about the significance of toy footballs given out by the B.C. Lions in 2014 to mark the event for residential school survivors. (B.C. government video)

B.C. Lions unveil special logo for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Orange Shirt Day founder recalls team’s inspiration

Phyllis Webstad, founder of Orange Shirt Day, speaks in Vancouver about the significance of toy footballs given out by the B.C. Lions in 2014 to mark the event for residential school survivors. (B.C. government video)
Stewart Redsky, former chief of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, walks past one week's worth of 20 litre water bottles in the community's water storage room on Feb. 25, 2015. The First Nation is now welcoming clean, running water for the first time in nearly 25 years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

‘Fought hard for this’: Decades-old water advisory lifted for Ontario First Nation

Boil-water advisory for Shoal Lake 40 was issued in 1998 and was one of the longest in Canada

Stewart Redsky, former chief of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, walks past one week's worth of 20 litre water bottles in the community's water storage room on Feb. 25, 2015. The First Nation is now welcoming clean, running water for the first time in nearly 25 years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
One of four totem poles on the corners of a bridge over the Nass River to Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City) in northwestern British Columbia is seen on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018. The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada is making a bleak prediction about its members’ ability to rapidly recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

Pandemic recovery for Indigenous tourism will be slow, says report

Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada projects an overall 54 per cent decline since the pandemic

One of four totem poles on the corners of a bridge over the Nass River to Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City) in northwestern British Columbia is seen on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018. The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada is making a bleak prediction about its members’ ability to rapidly recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel
A freight train makes its way over the Black Bridge in Duncan, back when rail was still running on the E&N corridor. (Black Press file)

Court rejects First Nation’s bid to appeal Island railway land decision for now

B.C. Court of Appeal upholds Supreme Court decision, but leaves Snaw-Naw-As opening to try again

A freight train makes its way over the Black Bridge in Duncan, back when rail was still running on the E&N corridor. (Black Press file)
John Jack, chair of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, addresses the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention by video link, Sept. 14, 2021. (UBCM video)

Local B.C. governments seek ways to go beyond talking about reconciliation

Indigenous people need power, municipal convention told

John Jack, chair of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, addresses the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention by video link, Sept. 14, 2021. (UBCM video)
The Penelakut mini pitch will be painted by late spring 2022 to bring it to completion. (Submitted)

First mini soccer pitch for Indigenous children ready for play

Grand opening Monday marks a special occasion on Penelakut Island

The Penelakut mini pitch will be painted by late spring 2022 to bring it to completion. (Submitted)
Actors Phillip Lewitski, left to right, Avery Winters-Anthony and Josh Odjick are shown in a scene from the film “Wildhood,” in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Riley Smith **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Nova Scotia filmmaker hopes to inspire Indigenous representation with coming-of-age film

Filmmaker said the coming-of-age film took so long to make because of resistance to the Indigiqueer storyline

Actors Phillip Lewitski, left to right, Avery Winters-Anthony and Josh Odjick are shown in a scene from the film “Wildhood,” in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Riley Smith **MANDATORY CREDIT**
Performers engage in a friendship dance at a previous One Wave Gathering event. This year’s events get underway Sept. 9. (Photo courtesy of Pacific Peoples’ Partnership)

One Wave Gathering celebrates Indigenous culture across Greater Victoria

14th annual event inspired by themes of healing and resurgence

Performers engage in a friendship dance at a previous One Wave Gathering event. This year’s events get underway Sept. 9. (Photo courtesy of Pacific Peoples’ Partnership)
A series of orange hearts, marking place names and numbers corresponding with known residential school sites where unmarked graves have been found, hang in Rutledge Park in Saanich. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)

Anonymous orange hearts hang in support throughout Saanich park

Sept. 30 marks Orange Shirt Day, and now national day of reconciliation

A series of orange hearts, marking place names and numbers corresponding with known residential school sites where unmarked graves have been found, hang in Rutledge Park in Saanich. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)
The Skaha Creek fire taken Sunday night, Aug. 29. (Brennan Phillips/Penticton Western News)

B.C. wildfires a `wake-up call’ to return to Indigenous-led fire management

The BCWS should be working with and learning from sqilxw Peoples

The Skaha Creek fire taken Sunday night, Aug. 29. (Brennan Phillips/Penticton Western News)
British Columbia’s provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Friday July 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Majority of British Columbians want the province’s name to stay the same: poll

Survey suggests 60 per cent of B.C. residents disagree with changing the name

British Columbia’s provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Friday July 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Toronto actor D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai is shown in this undated handout image. Five years ago, Canadian actor Woon-A-Tai never would’ve expected to see a series like “Reservation Dogs” south of the border.But with it and several other fellow Indigenous-led projects finally getting bigger platforms in the U.S., change is afoot when it comes to such mainstream Hollywood representation, he says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jeff Vespa *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Canadian ‘Reservation Dogs’ star on increasing Indigenous representation in the U.S.

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai stars in the buzzy half-hour FX comedy as one of four Indigenous teens in rural Oklahoma

Toronto actor D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai is shown in this undated handout image. Five years ago, Canadian actor Woon-A-Tai never would’ve expected to see a series like “Reservation Dogs” south of the border.But with it and several other fellow Indigenous-led projects finally getting bigger platforms in the U.S., change is afoot when it comes to such mainstream Hollywood representation, he says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jeff Vespa *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Police tape is shown in Toronto Tuesday, May 2, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

‘They’re being banished:’ Inuit women need their communities, not jail, says advocate

Advocates say far-off jail sentences are tantamount to an exile

Police tape is shown in Toronto Tuesday, May 2, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy
Margot King, 4, touches an orange flag, representing children who died while attending Indian Residential Schools in Canada, placed in the grass at Major’s Hill Park in Ottawa, on Canada Day, Thursday, July 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

‘Remember the children’: Planning underway for residential school memorial in Calgary

The city, Indigenous and Métis communities have committed to work toward building a permanent marker

Margot King, 4, touches an orange flag, representing children who died while attending Indian Residential Schools in Canada, placed in the grass at Major’s Hill Park in Ottawa, on Canada Day, Thursday, July 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Melanie Rivers, whose ancestral name is Tiyaltelwet, is the Squamish Nation artist behind the report’s cover art, poem and dedication. (Katya Slepian/Black Press Media)

Ancestral roots: Indigenous women, girls’ health report highlights hurdles, traditions

Artist Melanie Rivers describes the inspiration between report’s cover art, poem

Melanie Rivers, whose ancestral name is Tiyaltelwet, is the Squamish Nation artist behind the report’s cover art, poem and dedication. (Katya Slepian/Black Press Media)
The Lekwungen Traditional Dancers were one of the acts at Beckwith Park’s first IYAKT music festival. (Megan Atkins-Baker/News Staff)

Successful IYAKT event in Saanich gives Indigenous talent opportunity to perform

The event aimed to shine light on the many talented Indigenous performers across the region

The Lekwungen Traditional Dancers were one of the acts at Beckwith Park’s first IYAKT music festival. (Megan Atkins-Baker/News Staff)