Evacuation Plan Survey

The ACRD has begun planning for evacuation routes as part of the plan with boundaries including Huu‐ay‐aht First Nations lands. The project has been awarded to Calian Group Ltd.

Calian Group Ltd. has requested citizen input through an online evacuation procedure survey. The survey is open until October 21, 2022, and all citizens and residents of Anacla are encouraged to complete the survey to help Calian understand what an emergency evacuation may look like for you and your family.  Survey Link

The project boundary includes:
• Bamfield & Long Beach Electoral Areas in entirety,
• Huu‐ay‐aht First Nations lands,
• Toquaht Nation lands,
• Uchucklesaht Tribe lands,
• Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ lands.

More information about the project and funding announcement can be found on the BC Government website.

 

 

Listen to your Elders about “The Heart of the People”!

This is the first part of the documentary “The Heart of the People”.  A unique opportunity to listen to Elders who are no longer with us, but speak about the Sarita River from the bottom of their tiičma (heart):

  • Willie Sport – cultural historian, fisher and trapper.
  • Lizzie Happynook – weaver whose pieces are exhibited at the Alberni Valley Museum.
  • Peter Joe – boat builder and former resident of the area.
  • Annie Clappis – member of the Huu-ay-aht Community Language Speakers.

You can also understand the history around the Specific Claims Tribunal of the Huu-ay-aht
First Nations regarding the value of the compensation Canada owes the Nation as a result of the way timber on former Numukamis IR1 was sold to MacMillan Bloedel in the 1940s. Forester Consultant Herb Hammond talks about how, in his opinion, the hemlock looper was used at that time as an excuse to log indiscriminately.

 

Fresh Food Program is on hold

The Fresh Food Box is currently on hold. The program is a non-profit alternative fresh food distribution system that started in May 2015 and was paid for, in part, through a one-time funding opportunity that the Nation received called the LNG Generations Fund.

We are currently working on ways to locate funding to continue the program for another year and during this year develop a longer term solution.

We will advise citizens as soon as we have further information.

 

Fresh Food Box Program on Hold

 

 

Celebrate National Aboriginal Language Day

Since 1993, Indigenous peoples in Canada have celebrated March 31st to honour the strength and endurance of our languages and cultures. While National Aboriginal Languages Day is a single day to honour the legacy we have inherited, there are thousands of Indigenous Language Champions creating and delivering Indigenous languages programs and traditional teachings every day. We celebrate the work of our Indigenous Language and Culture Champions to revitalize and seek ways to sustain survival of our languages.

We acknowledge the difficult burden they have carried to reverse more than a century of attempts, primarily through residential schools, to erase our languages and identity. Twenty-seven years ago, the Indigenous peoples of Hawai’i had only 50 surviving fluent speakers. Today, their education system supports Language Nests and Immersion Programs. Their language and culture is taught in all grade levels, and into college and university programs – from early childhood education to PhD. They now have more than 10,000 fluent Hawaiian speakers. It is our legacy, as our Hawaiian and Maori brothers and sisters have done, to sustain the struggle to ensure that our communities have equality of opportunity to live and learn in our Mother Tongues – to have access to Language Nests, Immersion Programs, Language and Cultural Camps, and to offer Master-Apprentice Programs for our Teachers and those who want to become fluent speakers and Language Teachers.

From coast to coast to coast, we will take action with even greater determination to assert our languages, our identities, and to seek equitable recognition and support to that which is provided to the official languages in this country. Together, let us agree that all learners will have equality of opportunity to live and learn in our Mother Tongue. Join us in celebrating National Aboriginal Languages Day, every day!

AFN National Chief says that Federal Budget is a significant step in closing the gap for First Nations

The federal budget is a significant step in closing the gap in the quality of life between First Nations peoples and Canadians and beginning the process of reconciliation, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde says.

“The budget begins to address decades of underfunding and neglect, which have perpetuated a growing gap in the quality of life between First Nations and other Canadians,” said AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde.  “This budget invests in important priorities for First Nations and all Canadians. Investments in housing, clean water, education, and child welfare will bring long-needed relief for those living in third world conditions, and build a stronger economy for everyone.”

The 2016 federal budget unveiled today is an historic $8.4 billion over 5 years in investments in Indigenous issues. It has committed to eliminate the 2% cap. It also allocates investments in First Nations Education; Infrastructure and Housing; Green Infrastructure on Reserve and clean drinking Water; First Nations child and family services; Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy; Aboriginal Languages Initiative; Health; Justice; Fishing and Environment. The federal budget also commits to engage with First Nations on a new long-term fiscal relationship.

“Creating the conditions for First Nations peoples to succeed, whether they live in the north, on reserve or in urban areas, is the best economic stimulus plan for Canada,” said National Chief Bellegarde.  “It will add billions to the economy and save billions more in social costs while creating a stronger, more just and prosperous country for us all.”