RCMP execute search warrants at Chilliwack cannabis shops on First Nations land

A Chilliwack RCMP officer outside the Indigenous Bloom Medical Cannabis Dispensary on the Kwaw-Kwaw-Apilt First Nation on July 12 as a search warrant is executed. (Paul Henderson/ The Progress)

Officers on scene at The Kure on Skwah and Indigenous Bloom on Kwaw-Kwaw-Apilt Thursday

by Paul Henderson, Chilliwack Progress, July 12, 2018

The proprietors of two new cannabis retail shops on two different local First Nations reserves in Chilliwack learned this week that, yes, marijuana is still illegal.

At around 10 a.m. on July 12, Mounties blocked the entrance to the parking lots at The Kure Cannabis Dispensary on the Skwah First Nation just off Wolfe Road, and at the newer Indigenous Bloom Medical Cannabis Dispensary on the Kwaw-Kwaw-Apilt First Nation on Ashwell Drive.

‘A great many’ Stó:lō boys kidnapped during B.C.’s Gold Rush

Terry Horne’s carving honouring the lost boys is now placed at the Chawathil First Nation’s Telte-Yet Campgrounds near Hope, B.C. (Terry Horne)

Canada 150 project unites historian and carver to tell nearly forgotten story of lost boys

CBC News, August 19, 2017

The Fraser River gold rush of 1858 brought disease and hardship to First Nations, but it also included the devastating loss of many young Stó:lō boys who were kidnapped and taken to the United States.

Chilliwack First Nations bands reject Kinder Morgan cash

Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribe members vote ‘no’ to mutual benefits agreement for Trans Mountain pipeline expansion

by Paul Henderson, The Chilliwack Progress, April 28, 2017

The vote was close and turnout was low but years of consultation has culminated in a group of local Sto:lo bands rejecting a mutual benefits agreement as part of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.