‘I wish we had our territory back’: Influx of float homes in Clayoquot Sound forces Tla-o-qui-aht families to go farther for traditional foods

By Nora O’Malley Ha-Shilth-Sa Local Journalism Initiative Reporter This is article is part of a series of stories on Nuu-chah-nulth clam gardens. Clayoquot Sound, B.C. – From the captain’s seat of his fishing boat called ‘La Fortune’, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation (TFN) fisherman Leo Jon Manson popped the lid off the proverbial can of worms labelled ‘float homes’. Float homes are encroaching cultural and harvesting sites in Tla-o-qui-aht territory, says Manson. One spot in particular, Lemmens Inlet, a protected body of water located just north of Tofino that cuts into Meares Island, has succumbed to the region’s “laidback” regulations on float homes. “We still have some spots in our territory, but we have to travel farther away from Opitsaht or Načiks (Tofino). We have to go farther back in the inlets….

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