Cowichan This Week: Goodbye, snowpeople

Welcome to Cowichan This Week, your source for the latest local news and events. Sign up to get this in your inbox every Thursday.

---

News and announcements

• The Town of Lake Cowichan, Social Planning Cowichan and other partners have launched the Movin’ On Up Cowichan Lake Poverty Reduction project. It’s an effort to better understand and address poverty in Cowichan Lake communities, including Ts’uubaa-asatx and Ditidaht First Nations. There are several ways to get involved, including by completing an online survey.
• Cowichan Tribes has reported its fourth death in the community from COVID-19. Two of those now gone were young adults, according to the First Nation. Those in the community who have received a first vaccine can expect a second dose in the second week of March. 
• The most recent point-in-time count located 129 people experiencing homelessness in the Cowichan region, the Cowichan Valley Citizen reports. But officials suggest the true number is higher, both because these counts always represent a minimum number, and because the count took place in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were already leery of gathering. The full report is available online.
• The true-crime podcast Island Crime’s second season focuses on the stories of men who have gone missing from Vancouver Island. Ian Henry and Desmond Peter, who both disappeared from the Duncan area, are featured in recent episodes. 
• Laketown Ranch, the festival grounds outside Lake Cowichan, will begin to offer summer camping this year, according to a Facebook post. 
• We must remain vigilant against the spread of COVID-19 even as vaccinations decrease death rates, according to analysis by the Tyee. Lowering transmission rates is key to halting the emergence and spread of newer, more dangerous variants of the virus. 
• The Teal-Jones Group is seeking an injunction against protesters blocking access to old growth trees in the Fairy Creek watershed, near Port Renfrew, according to a news release from the Rainforest Flying Squad. The blockade has been in place since August. A group of people demonstrated in support of the blockade outside B.C. Premier John Horgan’s office this week, CTV News reports. A rally in solidarity will take place Tuesday, March 2 in Duncan.

---

Community events

• Thursday, Feb. 25: 📢  Issamba Centre is hosting a Black History Month Conversation with Councillor Jibs Abitoye. Abitoye was elected city councillor for Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., just five years after immigrating from Nigeria. 
• Monday, March 1: 🌲 The Cowichan Valley Naturalists’ Society invites all community members to a presentation on Seeing Cowichan Forests Beyond Trees, a project of the Cowichan Community Land Trust. Email [email protected] for the Zoom link.
• Through March 3: 🎨 Check out Shards and Shreds, a showcase of glass and fibre arts at the Cowichan Valley Arts Council Gallery, located in the Cowichan Community Centre. 
• Available now: 🎷 Check out local blues icon Eugene Smith on the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre Podcast. He talks about his family history, experiences of racism and the impacts of COVID-19 on performance industries, and also performs on the kalimba. 
• Available now: 🤓 Get smart with the Mill Bay Malahat Historical Society’s online quiz series, I Never Would Have Guessed That.

What did I miss? Let me know what events are coming up near you by sending me an email. 

---

In your words

We heard so much great feedback on Jared Qwustenuxun Williams’s article last week, about traditional Coast Salish foods. 

“This is so interesting! I love that so many things revolve around a relationship to food,” Renee wrote.

“Very informative article, and I look forward to reading more. Thank you,” said Rob.

“Thank you for another interesting article, Qwustenuxun,” Janice wrote.

Thanks for the feedback! I can’t wait to share the next installment with you all soon. [end]