{"id":110288,"date":"2026-11-05T09:59:55","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T14:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=110288"},"modified":"2026-11-05T09:59:55","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T14:59:55","slug":"a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/05\/a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;A long time coming&#8217;: Chiniki First Nation breaks ground on new community centre, gym"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceYARHE NAKODA \u2013 A new community centre imagining an indoor gym, day care and event space is coming to M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee. Breaking ground on the site west of the community last week, Chiniki First Nation chief and council say the Chiniki Gathering Place will provide a space for the Nation\u2019s youth and elders to connect and keep their culture alive. \u201cFrom time immemorial, wherever we went, we always set a base camp where everything starts, where everything is renewed, where we remind ourselves who we are and where we\u2019re going,\u201d said Chiniki Chief Aaron Young during the groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 22. \u201c\u200aOur children will lead in directions in education, but they have to come back to our roots, and&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F11%2F05%2Fa-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceYARHE NAKODA \u2013 A new community centre imagining an indoor gym, day care and event space is coming to M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee. Breaking ground on the site west of the community last week, Chiniki First Nation chief and council say the Chiniki Gathering Place will provide a space for the Nation\u2019s youth and elders to connect and keep their culture alive. \u201cFrom time immemorial, wherever we went, we always set a base camp where everything starts, where everything is renewed, where we remind ourselves who we are and where we\u2019re going,\u201d said Chiniki Chief Aaron Young during the groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 22. \u201c\u200aOur children will lead in directions in education, but they have to come back to our roots, and... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F11%2F05%2Fa-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&#039;A long time coming&#039;: Chiniki First Nation breaks ground on new community centre, gym - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/05\/a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;A long time coming&#039;: Chiniki First Nation breaks ground on new community centre, gym - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceYARHE NAKODA \u2013 A new community centre imagining an indoor gym, day care and event space is coming to M\u00een\u00ee Thn\u00ee. Breaking ground on the site west of the community last week, Chiniki First Nation chief and council say the Chiniki Gathering Place will provide a space for the Nation\u2019s youth and elders to connect and keep their culture alive. \u201cFrom time immemorial, wherever we went, we always set a base camp where everything starts, where everything is renewed, where we remind ourselves who we are and where we\u2019re going,\u201d said Chiniki Chief Aaron Young during the groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 22. \u201c\u200aOur children will lead in directions in education, but they have to come back to our roots, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/05\/a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-05T14:59:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/05\\\/a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/05\\\/a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"&#8216;A long time coming&#8217;: Chiniki First Nation breaks ground on new community centre, gym\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-05T14:59:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/05\\\/a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":726,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/05\\\/a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/05\\\/a-long-time-coming-chiniki-first-nation-breaks-ground-on-new-community-centre-gym\\\/\",\"name\":\"'A long time coming': Chiniki First Nation breaks ground on new community centre, gym - 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