Announcing a Conference and a Feast of Celebration, Mourning and Shame for the Eulachon
June 11-12, in Bella Coola, BC

The Gathering
The Nuxalk Nation of Bella Coola in conjunction with the Wuikinuxv and Kitasoo-Xai’Xais Nations announces a gathering on Monday and Tuesday, June 11-12 at Bella Coola to join with other B.C. Nations in retaking leadership for the stewardship of the eulachon.

The cultural treasure, the eulachon vanished from the rivers of the Bella Coola and Rivers Inlet areas in the late 1990s. Elsewhere in British Columbia and also along the coasts of Alaska and the western continental USA, stocks of eulachon have been unstable and diminishing. This gathering will provide an opportunity for nation-to-nation discussion of the shared eulachon crisis and also will explore the options for collaborative action.

Overall Purpose
This gathering combines a modern conference aimed at problem assessment and strategy building, with a traditional feast that will muster community energies and call worldwide attention to an eco-cultural crisis that has for too long been downplayed and ignored.

The overall purpose is to raise awareness of this ecological-cultural tragedy and energize First Nations to take a leadership role in designing and enacting a strategy to deal with the loss and demise of the eulachon.

Format of Gathering
On Monday, June 11, from the morning to late afternoon, delegates will join with the Nuxalkmc host community to consider how this crisis came about, the very limited nature of actions taken to remediate the crisis and begin to explore strategies for future management and leadership regarding these issues.

In the evening, Monday, June 11, a traditional feast will take place to celebrate the centuries of the gift of the eulachon, to mourn the loss especially in local rivers where they have entirely disappeared and to shame the failure to act through this extended time of crisis.

On Tuesday, June 12, the conference will reconvene and move to consensus on the array of actions needed and the collaborative strategy that can be created so that First Nations retake the leadership role in harmonizing humans, eulachon and the rest of the Creator’s domain.