Monthly Archives: September 2023

Tribal Journeys Resumes After a Three Year Hiatus After a three-year COVID-related hiatus, Tribal Journeys resumed this year, culminating in a week of cultural protocol at Muckleshoot. (Shown above, paddlers arriving at Muckleshoot) The W̱SÁNEĆ Nation was one of 80 communities that paddled to Muckleshoot for a week of 24/7 cultural protocol this summer. 120 canoe families joined from as far as Alaska, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Japan. Participants paddled for days and, in some circumstances, weeks to reach Muckleshoot, stopping to visit many communities along the way. For over 60 canoes, one such stop was Tsawout Spit, [...]

Less Bias Asked On Marina Study Both federal and provincial governments have been asked to hold up approval permits for the planned Saanichton Bay Marina, a department of Indian Affairs official said today.    Clarence Riach, economic development officer for the south Vancouver Island Indian Affairs district, told the Times letters have been sent to both levels of government asking that no approval be given until additional studies are done on the impact of the marina on the Tsawout Indian Band, adjacent to the proposed marina.    “It’s our feeling that the Indian interests have not really been dealt with in enough [...]

Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) · Mon, Sep 10, 1990 500 rally against Tod Inlet Proposal By Kim Westad Times-Colonist staff Led by the chanting of native Indian spiritual songs and the strains of bagpipes, about 500 people converged at Tod Inlet on Sunday to voice concern about a planned luxury development on the land. Native speakers and representatives from the Citizens Association to Save the Environment said they would work together to stop the luxury hotel, marina, golf course, condominium and townhouse complex slated for the shores of the waterway, an inlet off Brentwood Bay. “At this point [...]

W̱SÁNEĆ Youth Work to Revive SX̱OLE / Reef Net Fishing for Fourth Year in a Row The W̱SÁNEĆ Reef Net Fishing project continued this year, led by Co-coordinators Edna Ellsworth and Laila Morris of Tsartlip Nation. The W̱SÁNEĆ community, for the past four years, has been working diligently to reclaim the art of SX̱OLE, or reef net fishing, one of many traditional practices prohibited by the colonial government. The W̱SANEĆ Youth Reef Net Program – established by the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council in 2020 “as a way for knowledge to be transferred from Elders to Youth, revitalize W̱SÁNEĆ culture [...]

ȾIKEL Land Back Ceremony Marks Historic Moment On August 18th, 2023 the W̱SÁNEĆ community held a ceremony to celebrate the return of a 47.5-acre parcel in the heart of ȾIKEL (Maber Flats) from the Berglund Family to W̱SÁNEĆ Lands Trust Society under the Ecological Gifts Program. The ceremony held on August 18th, 2023 marked a historic moment: the first return of land to an Indigenous organization in Canada under the Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Ecological Gift Program. The land returned is a 47.5-acre parcel in the heart of ȾIKEL (Maber Flats). The land was originally wetlands stewarded [...]