Latest news with #Tla-o-qui-aht
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Reshaping a B.C. court to include Indigenous values
By Nora O'Malley Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tofino, B.C. – Direct efforts are underway to address the distrust and problematic history First Nations face within Canada's justice system. At the beginning of May, Tofino Provincial Court was relocated from the Tofino Community Hall to the Tin Wis Conference Centre on Tla-o-qui-aht-First Nations traditional territory. Court will continue to be held at this new location on Tla-o-qui-aht land for the next few years. Tin Wis is the former site of Christie Indian Residential School. 'It used to be the gymnasium of the residential school. It holds a lot of significance,' said Tla-o-qui-aht Justice Manager Curtis Joseph (Tayiisimčił). Members of the newly formed Tla-o-qui-aht Justice Committee will also be present during the sentencing process to ensure community members are represented – and to allow for accountability. Elder Gloria Frank is a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht Justice Committee. Frank, alongside all nine members of the justice committee, has taken an oath of confidentially. 'Whatever happens, it stays (in the court),' said Frank. 'We are there to have a serious impact on victims. We want to give them a positive voice and make sure they are safe. We offer comfort and reassurance that it's not (their) fault. We want to take that fear away from our victims.' 'On one side, we are the loving, guiding, community members, but we also have to be unbiased and non-judgmental,' elder Debbie David adds. Dezerae Joseph, Tla-o-qui-aht's women and girls project co-ordinator, also sits on the justice committee. She says since its inception a couple years ago, more people are coming forward, wanting to see justice. 'People are speaking up about sexual assault, violence and impaired driving,' said Dezerae. 'We are seeing the change. We are seeing people not wanting to be silenced.' Provincial Court Judge Alexander Wolf said what Tla-o-qui-aht is doing is 'indigenizing' mainstream court; they are creating a one-of-a-kind concept that is distinct from First Nations/Indigenous Courts. 'One of the difficulties we have [with] the mainstream court systems is they are sort of exclusive,' Judge Wolf told the Ha-Shilth-Sa. He added that these court systems can exclude the needs of a community, disregarding the wishes of elders 'and alternatives that exist to mainstream problem solving.' 'From the judiciary side, this is a great national example of how reconciliation is a process and it's a journey,' said Judge Wolf. 'It's not a destination, to me. Some people, when they look at reconciliation, they say, 'Well we can't have it because we can't go back to a time and place and restore a sense of harmony that never existed.' But I think, as we go forward, that judiciary with communities can go forward and make one view and belief compatible with another.' The Law Foundation of BC granted Tla-o-qui-aht's justice initiative $1 million over four years, under the same stream of funding that Indigenous Courts are funded, according to Joseph. The Tla-o-qui-aht Justice Committee is the primary forum for discussions between the Tofino RCMP, and the two parties have created a formal Letter of Expectation (LOE), with input/approval from Tla-o-qui-aht Chief and Council. Youth Engagement is listed as the top priority in the draft letter for this year. 'It's about building that relationship,' said Joseph. 'Sgt. Owen Smith has been very co-operative with us. He gives us an idea of where we need to focus energy on, and a lot of that is alcohol related.' Tofino/Ahousaht RCMP Detachment Commander Sgt. Owen Smith expressed positivity towards the shift to include Indigenous values. 'In the 18 months that I have worked with (the justice committee), the focus and impact of our work has expanded significantly,' said Sgt. Smith in an email. 'Communication is critical to a good working relationship, and I feel TFN and the RCMP have been great partners in recent months.' 'I hope that our work with the committee removes a lot of the unknown about policing, highlights the work the RCMP is doing to keep community members safe, and demonstrates that we're working together, toward the same goals,' he said. Joseph says they are in regular conversation with Crown Counsel and are also working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Port Alberni Community Corrections and a MOU with the West Coast Community Resources Society for third-party reporting for sexual assault. Sgt. Smith confirmed that 'all but two officers in Tofino and Ahousaht are now trained in the use of, and equipped with, body-worn cameras. They are a great addition, providing many benefits to the public, officer and court files.' Judge Wolf urged all First Nations communities to create a stronger partnership with the judiciary and to focus on creating a healthier environment, especially for Indigenous women and girls. 'We have a national crisis of children in care, and we put more Indigenous women in jail than any other group. The atrocity to me nationally is how higher incarceration rates are for Indigenous girls aged 12 to 18,' said Judge Wolf. He offered words of wisdom from retired Judge Barry Stuart, who uplifted justice reform in the Yukon by implementing the Peacemaking Circle: 'Stuart said, 'You don't need money to make change, you just need a pot of coffee and a dozen donuts and some people that want to make change'. You need people and you need heart. That's essentially what we did here,' said Judge Wolf. -30- Caption Circled by provincial peace officers and Crown Counsel, members of the Tla-o-qui-aht Justice Committee elder Gloria Frank, elder Debbie David (front seated), Justice Manager Curtis Joseph, Judge Wolf and women and girls co-ordinator Dezerae Joseph honour a milestone first week of relocating Tofino Provincial Court to Tin Wis on May 5. (Nora O'Malley photo)
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
Beached whale provides ‘great big learning experience' for Tla-o-qui-aht
Eric Plummer Tofino, BC - After engaging in a practice that once sustained their ancestors over a century ago, dealing with a whale that washed up on Long Beach has been a massive learning experience for Tla-o-qui-aht members. 'It takes a whole community to get this done,' said Gisele Martin, after her and other members of the First Nation harvested parts of the deceased grey whale, or maaʔak, on May 10. 'I think it's been a great big, amazing learning experience.' Earlier in the week Gisele was alerted by her father Joe Martin, who heard that a whale was seen floating by Long Beach in Tla-o-qui-aht waters. A master carver, Joe was away in Powell River finishing a canoe with students, so he let his daughter know about the cetacean's loose body. Joe was keen for the First Nation to be the first to take care of the animal. 'I told my daughter, 'That's our whale, it drifts to our beach',' he said. Gisele went with fellow Tribal Parks Guardian Nate Currie to tie the whale down. 'I did try to tie a rope, rope them when we were on the beach at low tide, but it was really hard to get it secure because the tail was very, very heavy and it was suctioned to the sand,' said Gisele. When the tide rose at midnight Gisele had an unsettling feeling about the animal remaining secured. She called Currie to revisit the site with her, and found the whale loose and rolling around in the surf. 'The tail was so strong,' she recalled of the struggle to tie the tail down again. 'It was just really humbling. The size of it felt so much larger in the dark. It just seemed like this massive, massive being.' 'It was quite an adventure in the moonlight,' added Gisele. According to Parks Canada, the grey whale was seen floating in the area since May 6, the day before Gisele and Nate Currie tied the animal's tail to the beach. When it was finally secured the Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks Guardians and Parks Canada drew a line in the sand around the body to restrict access 'both for health and safety reasons, and in respect for the whale,' said the federal department in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa. According to Jim Darling, a biologist and Tofino resident who has been studying whales since the 1970s, there's approximately 200 grey whales living off the coast of Vancouver Island, and another 15,000 that migrate offshore from Mexico to the Arctic each year. Samples were taken from the body to perform a necropsy, the results of which are yet to be reported by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. But those who cut into the animal observed signs of head trauma. 'Right behind the head there was a lot of blood clot,' said Joe Martin. 'I'm thinking that whale was surfacing when it got hit by a ship. It probably got knocked out or killed immediately. I think it was dead for maybe three or four days before it landed on the beach here.' 'It may not just have been a single thing that caused the death of this whale,' added Gisele. 'We can see that they got some kind of blunt trauma to their head, but why did this whale get blunt trauma to the back of their head? That's also related to them feeling disoriented of being emaciated, too skinny and not floating well, not getting enough food.' On May 10 the cutting began with Joe taking a section of blubber from behind the head. 'That is the section where our family would take the first cut from the whale,' he said. 'The blubber was not very thick, maybe six inches at the most in some places. Mostly that whale was really skinny.' The elder has carved into grey whales before, including one that was towed into Ahousaht in March 2000 after it died while entangled in a net being used collect herring eggs on kelp. This was the first whale taken to Ahousaht's shore for consumption since 1963, a rare return to the time-honoured practice that provided Nuu-chah-nulth communities with wealth for countless generations. Joe Martin also cut into a grey whale that was hunted in May 1999 by the Makah Tribe of Neah Bay, the first they had harvested in nearly 80 years. 'That blubber was about 10 inches thick too. It was healthy,' recalled Joe. That hunt of 26 years ago occurred with the support of the US government and the International Whaling Commission, but amid public pressure the Makah have lobbied ever since to exercise a right that remains enshrined in the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay. They hope to resume whaling in July if a permit is granted final approval, setting off a ceremonial and subsistence hunt that would enable the harvest of up to 25 grey whales over 10 years. As people removed parts from the maaʔak on Long Beach, it became clear that the real work begins once a whale is brought to shore. 'At one point I counted 19 people cutting at once, and a whole other crowd of people watching and helping,' said Gisele. 'There was little kids helping to pull off the blubber.' This all occurred after a morning ceremony was performed. 'It's the appropriate thing that I figured was necessary for that whale and how our people respected them,' said Joe. 'We have to uphold those responsibilities.' 'I really hope that no more whales suffer and are washed ashore like that,' noted Gisele. 'But at the same time, should they, I feel that I've gotten way more of a concept of what I would do or wouldn't do and the work involved.' The response of government agencies gave Gisele hope of how relations with her nation have improved. 'A lot of times we've been intercepted and stopped from our cultural life ways by government agencies, and even Parks Canada staff in the past,' she said. 'This feels like the first time that all these different agencies have come together and cohesively just supported Tla-o-qui-aht leadership in what to do with this whale.' The carcass has since been buried in an undisclosed location. Joe is waiting for 'critters' to eat off the remaining flesh from the jaw bones so he can carve it into an art piece, while others are rendering the whale blubber they removed into oil. Some have even eaten the meat. 'I had some last night,' said Joe. 'It was really good. I'm still full.' -With files from Nora O'Malley and Denise Titian -30- Gisele Martin collects baleen from a grey whale at Long Beach on May 10 for ceremonial use in Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks. (Marcie Callewaert photo)
Hamilton Spectator
13-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Tla-o-qui-aht release Calls to Action for RCMP, BC Corrections and IIO
By Nora O'Malley Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tofino, B.C. – Tla-o-qui-aht released 20 Calls To Action for the RCMP, BC Corrections and the Independent Investigation Office (IIO) on May 9 after a Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and Children Walk that weaved through all three of the First Nation's communities, starting in the ancient village site of Opitsaht and ending in Esowista and Ty-Histanis. Justice Manager Curtis Joseph (Tayiisimčił) says they wanted to include the men and children in this year's Red Dress Walk as Tla-o-qui-aht people have lost male members at the hands of RCMP or while in corrections. On February 27, 2021 two RCMP officers responded to a call that alleged a female was sexually assaulted and being held against her will by two males at an address in Opitsaht on Meares Island, according to a report from the IIO. This visit resulted in the shooting death of 28-year-old Julian Jones. Jones was the second Tla-o-qui-aht member to die during a police incident in less than two years. In 2020 Chantal Moore, a 26-year-old mother, was killed by police in New Brunswick during a wellness check. The IIO found the officers at no fault in both instances. The Tla-o-qui-aht Calls To Action include RCMP to have de-escalation training rather than drawing a weapon (No. 8) and for the IIO to be culturally sensitive to Tla-o-qui-aht culture, history and needs (No. 9). 'It must see people as human beings, not just a police file,' reads Call To Action Number 9. In an effort to improve public transparency and accountability, Tofino RCMP started being equipped with body-worn cameras around December 2024. The IIO investigation into Julian Jones' death also appointed a Tla-o-qui-aht member as a civilian monitor, who overlooked details of the process and filed a report to the office's chief civilian director. This report stated that IIO investigators 'were friendly but neutral'. Despite these measures, the scale of tragedy in recent years is too much to bear, says Moore's grandmother. 'We've lost too many. It's been a rough road,' said Grace Frank during the May 9 Walk to Remember. 'I'm really proud of the justice committee that has been put together in my nation, for all that you are doing to for our people and the loved ones that we've lost. It really hurts to see how many we have lost.' Her grandson, Michael Martin, passed away in a jail cell five and a half months after Moore was fatally shot by police. 'My daughter is still dealing with what happened to my grandson. It's taken too long to find out what happened to him,' she said. 'It's been a real struggle. I just want to say to be there for each other. Our family has been through a lot.' Elder Dora Frank (yaawa) carried a poster asking, 'What really happened to Iris Frank?' Iris Frank was a young Tla-o-qui-aht teen when she went missing in Port Alberni in 1980. Weeks after she went missing, her remains were found – by her father – near the Paper Mill Dam on the Somass River, according to haw̓iiḥtaqumł (House of Wickaninnish). 'The police just kept saying, 'She'll come back'. They never did an investigation and they closed the case,' haw̓iiḥtaqumł told the Ha-Shilth-Sa. Call To Action (Number 1) states the RCMP need to respond immediately when an Indigenous person is reported to be missing. Tla-o-qui-aht women who are still missing incldue Edith Margaret Claver, who hasn't been seen since 2009, and Lisa Marie Young, who went missing from Nanaimo on June 30, 2002. 'These calls to action are only a start for Tla-o-qui-aht and will grow until these ongoing injustices are recognized and addressed,' states the Tla-o-qui-aht Justice Committee. Tofino RCMP Detachment Sergeant Owen Smith attended the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and Children Day dressed in civilian clothes. He shared a table and ate lunch with Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Elmer Frank and Tofino Mayor Dan Law. Speakers throughout the day also drew attention to Indigenous children in care and children that never returned home from residential school. Tla-o-qui-aht Call To Action (Number 17) tasks the Provincial Court to advocate for children in care and (Number 20) calls on the provincial and federal governments to fund an investigation of the children who did not return home from residential school. -30- Captions 1-DoraFrank: Elder Dora Frank (yaawa) wants to know what really happened to her sister Iris Frank, who was found dead by the Somass River weeks after she went missing. (Nora O'Malley photos)
Hamilton Spectator
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Spring Carving on the Edge Festival uplifts the next generation
Tofino, BC - Hammering chisels with rubber mallets, children helped hollow out a traditional Nuu-chah-nulth log drum at the spring Carving on the Edge Festival, which took place May 1 to 4 at the Tofino Community Hall in Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations territory. Tla-o-qui-aht artist Hjalmer Wenstob said the focus of the spring festival was all about coming together. 'Our log drum is what we built the whole festival around. It was drop-in carving throughout the whole festival. Really, it's just basically about learning about different tools,' said Wenstob. 'It's a nice, simple block of wood that people aren't afraid of. We're gonna hollow it out as a community,' he said. Three different school groups participated in the log drum project: the Grade 2/3 class from Wickaninnish Community School, an art class from Ahousaht and a high school group from Oregon. 'When young people come and create, it's beautiful. Having elders, the knowledge keepers in the room, to share with the next generations… it's all about sharing knowledge and building something together,' he said. Wenstob will take the log drum home and carve it into a wolf. He plans to gift the final work of art to Tla-o-qui-aht. 'I know they haven't had a traditional log drum in a while. We've been hosting the festival for 15 years now in Tla-o-qui-aht, so we thought it would be a good way to give back,' Wenstob continued. Beside the log drum, Port Alberni-based artist Kelly Robinson was working on a huge Thunderbird spirit mask in Nuxalk Nation's distinct style. 'Nuxalk is bulbous, voluptuous, curvy and deep,' said Robinson, who has had Nuxalk work in market for over 15 years. 'I've been practicing Nuu-chah-nulth style seriously for the past five years, and it will take a lifetime to learn. Nuu-chah-nulth is really fine with shapes coming out of nowhere,' he said. Robinson expressed his gratitude for the Carving Festival as it gives space for artists to network and just hang out with other artists. 'We're alone the majority of the time. It's been great to meet younger artists and share,' he told the Ha-Shilth-Sa. Tla-o-qui-aht artist Ivy Cargill-Martin agreed. 'I loved the overall feel of all the artists coming together, talking together and inspiring each other. It was so laidback. The whole vibe was just artists coming together to do art,' she said. When she wasn't hosting a busy lino carving and print making station, Cargill-Martin worked on a wooden fish commission inspired by Nuu-chah-nulth style, although a little more 'free'. 'My late uncle Darren Williams taught me to be more free and not as structured. He used to say to not draw with an eraser and just go with the mistakes you made,' Cargill-Martin shared. During the May 2 afternoon program, Hesquiaht artist and world-renowned carver Tim Paul surprised non-Indigenous west coast community member Laurel White with a Nuu-chah-nulth name. Surrounded by his family, Paul gave her the name ʔuuʔałuk, meaning 'taking care of'. 'Take that name and use that name as you go on in life. Just make sure you take care to pass on to our young people,' said Paul. White was raised in Prince Edward Island. She now lives in Ucluelet and works for the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council (NTC) as a public health researcher with a focus on what it means to live well and raise children well. She was shocked and notably speechless after receiving her Nu-chah-nulth name. 'I was trying not to cry. It's more than a word, it carries meaning,' White said. 'It's such an honour, but also a gift of responsibility to the knowledge and learnings that have been shared with me over my years of working with the NTC health dept, such as the responsibility to take care of those teachings, share them and embed them into my work and my life,' she said. Since 2021, White has been working with Paul and other Nuu-chah-nulth Elders on the Indigenous Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative . 'Elders like Tim amplify the work. I have so much gratitude and respect for Nuu-chah-nulth culture. It's such a beautiful thing,' White said. The Nuu-chah-nulth log drum will be displayed at the fall Carving on the Edge Art Show coming Oct 3 to 9, 2025. -30-
CBC
09-03-2025
- General
- CBC
Indigenous language now included on Ucluelet bus stop signs — a first for B.C. Transit
Jeneva Touchie has been learning her traditional language, nuučaan̓uł (Nuu-chah-nulth), for seven years — something she's carried on from her grandmother, who taught the language in her community on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Now, as the manager of language services for the Ucluelet First Nation's Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government, Touchie has helped bring the language to the local transportation system. Bus stop signs at all 36 B.C. Transit stops in Tofino, Ucluelet, Long Beach, hitaću, Esowista and Ty-histanis now include both English and Nuu-chah-nulth wording. "As a language learner and as a language teacher, it means the world to me because it's a really great connection to our land and our home," Touchie told CBC's On The Island host Gregor Craigie. B.C. Transit says this is the first time an Indigenous language has been included on its signs anywhere within its system, but it does plan to work with other communities to include local languages elsewhere. Government relations manager Seth Wright said B.C. Transit was inspired to include the Nuu-chah-nulth language on signs after seeing Parks Canada do the same. "We thought that including Nuu-chah-nulth on all bus stop signs was the right thing to do and supported our respective work towards reconciliation," Wright said. So, they reached out to the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation for expertise, to try to figure out what words would be appropriate to use. The names on the signs were created with both Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ and Tla-o-qui-aht dialects in mind, Touchie said. "It's a working collaboration with our neighbouring nations." The Nuu-chah-nulth on local signs isn't new to the community; the District of Ucluelet started putting both Nuu-chah-nulth and English on its signs in 2022. "Ucluelet is very ahead of the times, I would say, because they're trying to incorporate language within the community, and we've been incorporating signs here within our small community of Ittatsoo," Touchie said. "It's been really great to see language kind of blossom and flourish." She said keeping the local language alive in the community helps both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people understand the history of the Nuu-chah-nulth people. "Each nation, they've all been there since time immemorial," Touchie said. "But there's, I think, a lack of understanding of what that means for particularly nations that have been there a long time. It's just a really great opportunity to raise those questions and to better understand the nations that surround the communities."
