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Surrounded by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Tseshaht Elder Alan Dick's face beamed with overwhelming pride as his family's canoe was launched into the Somass River.

"This is the greatest day of my life," Alan beamed as 16 men lifted the canoe past 20 singing and dancing women. "I'm 81 years old, and to be here with my all my children on this special day is just incredible," he said.

Alan, along with his son Wayne, have spent the past three months carving the canoe, passing on knowledge and stories with every adze stroke.

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Every Tribal Journey is a test and the test is never the same. This year it was the weather that tried the endurance, stamina, and courage of the paddlers from the West Coast of Canada and the United States. There were times in their week-long odyssey that the participants in the 28 canoes were cold, wet, hungry and in danger of their lives; but asked if he would do it again, Dave Mannix, skipper of the Snuneymuxw First Nation canoe, said, "In a heartbeat."

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Along some of the most isolated and harsh coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean, there lived Aboriginal people who were caught in the midst of a European power struggle during the colonial era.

The Yuquot were protected from the winds and elements by living in Nootka Sound, one of the few areas secure enough to withstand the direct pounding of the Pacific. This isolation, however, wasn't enough to prevent the English and Spanish landing in the late 18th Century.

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A court case to determine whether government and third parties must consult First Nations about Crown land-use prior to Aboriginal title being decided by a court or affirmed in a treaty resulted in a two-to-one decision in favor of First Nations by the British Columbia Court of Appeal last month.

The court held Weyerhaeuser Co. must consult with the Haida Nation about its logging practices on the Queen Charlotte Islands.

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Presented with an opportunity to share his artistic talent with his community, Albert West has carved himself out a niche on Cormorant Island.

West is the resident canoe maker for the 'Namgis First Nation and has held this role for the past six years. Now 69, he has created 10 canoes during this time. He embarked on his most recent project for the reserve's invitational canoe gathering this month.

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After years of planning and negotiating, the first juvenile geoducks were planted in Hesquiaht Harbour last month, marking the beginning of a unique and innovative business venture.

More than 2400 small geoducks were planted into the sandy sub-tidal zone with the hope that they'll be ready for harvesting in five years' time.

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It was fun time for families at the inaugural summer carnival held Aug. 21 at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre. The four-hour event offered a range of activities including a sponge toss, ring toss, darts, a basketball shoot-out and the always entertaining dunk tank.

Carnival co-ordinator Kat Norris said a few hundred people attended.

"It went really well. Some of the community workers were thanking us for putting it on," said Norris. "It brought the community together in a non-issue, non-political way."

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Senior Ojibway artist Ron Noganosh knows all too well the suffering and racism his people have endured.

A number of Noganosh's very personal pieces reflecting those themes are currently on display at the Greater Victoria Art Gallery.

The show, entitled It Takes Time, opened July 12 and runs until Sept. 22.

Noganosh's work is a satisfying mixture of honesty, humor and heartbreak.

"He brings his messages across very clearly," said Louise Bradbury, marketing assistant for the gallery. "And he's got a great sense of humor."

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Nancy Luis credits her destiny to friends in high places.

"A psychic once told me that I have a spirit guiding me, protecting me," said Luis. "But if you'd told me as a child I was going to be an artist, I would have laughed. I was never artistic."

But an artist she is. As the proprietor of Aboriginal Creeations, Luis has tweaked and transformed the typical dream catcher concept into shapes as diverse as eagles, turtles and buffalos - works of art she calls spirit catchers, in honor of each animal's soul.

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In an effort to help sagging deer populations, the province is considering an active wolf and cougar cull across Vancouver Island. This plan could face problems from environmentalists and First Nations such as Nuu-chah-nulth, who hold the wolf in very high regard.

With the Vancouver Island blacktail deer population having plummeted from about 12,000 animals in the late 1970s to only 2,200 today, provincial biologists are concerned.