{"id":89793,"date":"2025-02-24T08:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T13:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=89793"},"modified":"2025-02-24T08:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T13:43:18","slug":"first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"First Nations oppose territorial claims in Heiltsuk constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Andie Mollins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Williams Lake Tribune Three First Nations in B.C. are asking the Heiltsuk Nation to meet and resolve territorial matters before finalizing the adoption of their written constitution. In a Feb. 18 letter to the Heiltsuk Nation, the Nuxalk, Kitasoo Xai\u2019xais and Wuikinuxv nations said they \u201cstrongly disagree\u201d with the territorial claims made in the Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv Constitution, approved by Heiltsuk members in a referendum which concluded on Feb. 20. The letter, signed off by leadership of the three nations, explained they were compelled to unite in a request to the Heiltsuk to correct the \u201cinaccurate and historically false statement\u201d within their constitution which asserts territorial claims in regions the nations said are their own, undisputed traditional territories. The leaders stated they have held&#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, and Canada 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%2F2025%2F02%2F24%2Ffirst-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Andie Mollins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Williams Lake Tribune Three First Nations in B.C. are asking the Heiltsuk Nation to meet and resolve territorial matters before finalizing the adoption of their written constitution. In a Feb. 18 letter to the Heiltsuk Nation, the Nuxalk, Kitasoo Xai\u2019xais and Wuikinuxv nations said they \u201cstrongly disagree\u201d with the territorial claims made in the Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv Constitution, approved by Heiltsuk members in a referendum which concluded on Feb. 20. The letter, signed off by leadership of the three nations, explained they were compelled to unite in a request to the Heiltsuk to correct the \u201cinaccurate and historically false statement\u201d within their constitution which asserts territorial claims in regions the nations said are their own, undisputed traditional territories. The leaders stated they have held... <\/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, and Canada 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%2F2025%2F02%2F24%2Ffirst-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89793","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-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First Nations oppose territorial claims in Heiltsuk constitution - 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\/2025\/02\/24\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Nations oppose territorial claims in Heiltsuk constitution - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Andie Mollins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Williams Lake Tribune Three First Nations in B.C. are asking the Heiltsuk Nation to meet and resolve territorial matters before finalizing the adoption of their written constitution. In a Feb. 18 letter to the Heiltsuk Nation, the Nuxalk, Kitasoo Xai\u2019xais and Wuikinuxv nations said they \u201cstrongly disagree\u201d with the territorial claims made in the Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv Constitution, approved by Heiltsuk members in a referendum which concluded on Feb. 20. The letter, signed off by leadership of the three nations, explained they were compelled to unite in a request to the Heiltsuk to correct the \u201cinaccurate and historically false statement\u201d within their constitution which asserts territorial claims in regions the nations said are their own, undisputed traditional territories. The leaders stated they have held\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-02-24T13:43:18+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=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/24\\\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/24\\\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"First Nations oppose territorial claims in Heiltsuk constitution\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-24T13:43:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/24\\\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":569,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/24\\\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/24\\\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/24\\\/first-nations-oppose-territorial-claims-in-heiltsuk-constitution\\\/\",\"name\":\"First Nations oppose territorial claims in Heiltsuk constitution - 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