Five years ago on June 11, 2008, a rare “sorry” was uttered from the lips of the Prime Minister of Canada. Sorry for Canada’s part in creating the residential school system, said Stephen Harper. Sorry for Canada’s policy of assimilation, which “was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.” Sorry that Indian children were forcibly removed from their communities and their families. Sorry that they were inadequately fed, clothed and housed, deprived of care and nurturing.

For its part, Kinder Morgan is moving ahead with the federal regulatory process for the twinning of the oil pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C. “As Trans Mountain develops its application and project, Trans Mountain is committed to building upon its 60-year operating history and the relationships it has developed with Aboriginal groups, communities, landowners and stakeholders along the pipeline route,” said Trans Mountain Pipeline President Ian Anderson in a press release.

Tsleil-Waututh Nation is pleased that British Columbia has rejected Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline, saying the proposal doesn’t address the province’s environmental concerns. “It reassures us that the people of British Columbia are being heard when it comes to the health of our environment,” said Chief Maureen Thomas, Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

Hupacasath First Nation was in court June 5 to June 7 in its effort to put a halt to the Canada/China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. The nation argued that Canada has a duty to consult with First Nations before it ratifies the FIPA. Canada however says there is no change to domestic laws and there is no impact on First Nations rights so the duty to consult is not triggered by the agreement. The judge is expected to make a decision within a few months.

The B.C. First Nations Health Authority is looking for beefy chiefs to help raise the awareness of healthy eating and physical fitness in the province’s First Nations communities. Leadership has been invited to take part in the Beefy Chiefs and Champions Challenge to boost their health and reach a healthy weight. It’s a fun way to get people thinking about their health. “We want people to start to pay more attention to how they can take care of themselves,” said Doug Kelly, grand chief of the Sto:lo Tribal Council. “For me it started with walking.” The contest closes Oct.

On the evening of May 29, more than 150 local leaders and citizens of Nanaimo came together to share their visions of how the city can build stronger responses to racism and advancing reconciliation between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations. The community discussion was one of the responses to the events of March 27 when a letter to the editor in the Nanaimo Daily News sparked a public backlash because of comments it made about First Nations peoples and their cultures.

Aboriginal Affairs Canada is refusing to continue federal transfer payments to the Yekooche Nation until the community resolves its leadership issues. But the federal government department is not getting involved in the situation, AANDC says. A group from within Yekooche held demonstrations in Fort St. James, Prince George and Vancouver at the offices of AANDC June 14. AANDC will not record the results of a recall election that ousted the previously elected chief and council, reports the Prince George Citizen.

The name of Vancouver Island’s Saanich nation – WSÁNEC, as they spell it – means “emerging people.” And today, a remarkable re-emergence of traditional names is occurring in the peninsula they call home.

More than 10,000 years ago, explained elder WEC’KINEM (Eric Pelkey), the Creator warned inhabitants of an impending Great Flood, but only a handful heeded his warning: Build giant canoes and tether them with long cedar ropes to the arbutus tree atop the highest mountain in the land, LÁU,WELNEW.