Dystopic fiction might not be the best bedtime reading these days - depending on your level of anxiety - but Waubgeshig Rice's novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, is worthy, despite the dark set-up. It's gripping. The main characters are incredibly relatable. And, for a white-bodied person, it's a pretty powerful experience to be able to … Continue reading Read: Moon of the Crusted Snow

In June, Blair Kaplan Venables, local PR maven, writer, founder of the I Am Resilient Project, and Chamber of Commerce director,  released her first book, Pulsing Through My Veins: Raw and Real Stories From An Entrepreneur. It spent its first week as No 1 in Hot New Releases in Entrepreneurship AND in Women in Business, and … Continue reading Chatting with local entrepreneur and author, Blair Kaplan, about writing books, vulnerability hangovers and sobriety

As of August 7, it was 20 weeks since B.C. declared a State of Emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and now we are also in the midst of what is typically our high-risk period for wildfires. In April, an SLRD community literally got a trial by fire of evacuation during a pandemic, when … Continue reading Be Smart. SLRD Chair Tony Rainbow’s August message talks fire-smarting and fatigue

Lil'wat Retail Operations is running a cool contest - check it out and vote via their Facebook page, here.  *Voting ends: Midnight tonight! Thurs Aug 13th* If you don't get a chance to cast your vote, you can still read these awesome SÁSQ’ATS  stories / encounters. 1. A long time ago the creator made the earth, … Continue reading Vote before midnight for your favourite SÁSQ’ATS “Sasquatch” Lil’wat Stories

Make your own toothpaste? Why not!

Towards the end of August, Sockeye salmon begin their return from the ocean to the Birkenhead River. The Lil'wat Nation Fisheries program is a large-scale salmon stock assessment program that involves counting the returning salmon - the unique Birkenhead River Spring salmon, the sockeye, and the Coho. Here, Fisheries and Environmental Manager, Lhpatq (Maxine Joseph-Bruce) … Continue reading Lil’wat prepare for Sockeye salmon count

This story ran recently in the Walrus and offers a powerful reframe for those of us who were taught that European settlers saved First Nations people from starvation, or that they were unsophisticated and lacking in technology. You can also listen to it on Soundcloud: The Walrus · The Hungry People     The gloves … Continue reading Longreads: The Hungry People by Robert Jago

Keep the skin on! (Best option if your spuds are home-grown or Pemby-sourced from an organic or biodynamic farm. Head to the Farmers Market on Friday to stock up.) Start boiling them, whole, in cold water, and simmer slowly. For oven-roasting, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, cut raw potatoes into halves or wedges. Toss … Continue reading How to cook potatoes: advice from the Queen of Potatoes, Anna Helmer

Mrs. Cameron’s Gr. 1-2 class at Signal Hill Elementary School called up the museum in early May as they wanted to donate a time capsule full of their thoughts and feelings about the pandemic. The donation came in a hand painted box that pictured a silhouette of a rock climber and the hand painted words … Continue reading Reflections on a pandemic become Museum artefacts: Ms Cameron’s grade 1/2 class donate time capsule

Archaeologist and Anthropologist Bill Angelbeck was scheduled to present his carbon-dating results, gathered from Signal Hill last year, at the annual Lil'wat Nation Land and Resources Department community supper. Given that is not possible at this time, Bill's update has been shared in the July Land and Resources Department newsletter, and we're happy to share … Continue reading Archaelogical Investigations at Spel’kumtn (Signal Hill) – a report by Bill Angelbeck