Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Kootenay watershed

B.C., Teck opposed to international study of Kootenay watershed pollution

B.C., Teck opposed to international study of Kootenay watershed pollution

Provincial opposition to a proposed investigation of Kootenay watershed pollution may have dashed initial federal support for the review, based on a trove of documents recently released through freedom of information disclosure by the Ktunaxa Nation Council. The documents show correspondence between the provincial and federal governments related to potential participation in the International Joint Commission, which adjudicates transboundary water issues between Canada and the United States and provides resolution recommendations to disputes.

Ktunaxa and U.S. governments pressure Canada to address Kootenay water pollution

Ktunaxa and U.S. governments pressure Canada to address Kootenay water pollution

Water pollution in the Kootenay watershed has six Ktunaxa Nation governments and several U.S. federal agencies calling on Canada to take part in a submission to the International Joint Commission (IJC). Ktunaxa Nation officials said Nasuʔkins (Chiefs) and council members from every local Ktunaxa government met to discuss the issue on June 7 in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

Ktunaxa press feds on cross-border pollution in Kootenay watershed

Ktunaxa press feds on cross-border pollution in Kootenay watershed

The six governments of the Ktunaxa Nation continue to press the federal government on pollution in the Kootenay watershed that crosses the international border between Canada and the United States. Earlier this month, leadership with the six Ktuanxa governments recently met with representatives fro the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Geological Survey on the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho’s reservation lands in Bonner’s Ferry.

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