{"id":93066,"date":"2025-06-02T09:15:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T13:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=93066"},"modified":"2025-06-02T09:15:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T13:15:06","slug":"heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Heiltsuk Nation ratification feast brings written constitution into force"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Brieanna Charlebois The Heiltsuk Nation has ratified its written constitution through a celebratory feast in Bella Bella, B.C. Marilyn Slett, the nation&#8217;s elected chief, called it a &#8220;monumental day&#8221; that comes after two decades of development and consultation. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to put into words how big it is. It&#8217;s definitely a day of celebration and reflection on everything that brought us to the day,&#8221; Slett said of Friday&#8217;s feast. The Heiltsuk Nation approved the adoption of a written constitution for the First Nation on British Columbia&#8217;s central coast in February. That followed six months of engagement with more than 2,000 Heiltsuk members in Bella Bella, Nanaimo and Vancouver. The nation said 67 per cent of the 725 people who voted on the referendum were in favour of the constitution&#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%2F06%2F02%2Fheiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Brieanna Charlebois The Heiltsuk Nation has ratified its written constitution through a celebratory feast in Bella Bella, B.C. Marilyn Slett, the nation&#8217;s elected chief, called it a &#8220;monumental day&#8221; that comes after two decades of development and consultation. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to put into words how big it is. It&#8217;s definitely a day of celebration and reflection on everything that brought us to the day,&#8221; Slett said of Friday&#8217;s feast. The Heiltsuk Nation approved the adoption of a written constitution for the First Nation on British Columbia&#8217;s central coast in February. That followed six months of engagement with more than 2,000 Heiltsuk members in Bella Bella, Nanaimo and Vancouver. The nation said 67 per cent of the 725 people who voted on the referendum were in favour of the constitution.... <\/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%2F06%2F02%2Fheiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2%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-93066","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>Heiltsuk Nation ratification feast brings written constitution into force - 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\/06\/02\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heiltsuk Nation ratification feast brings written constitution into force - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brieanna Charlebois The Heiltsuk Nation has ratified its written constitution through a celebratory feast in Bella Bella, B.C. Marilyn Slett, the nation&#8217;s elected chief, called it a &#8220;monumental day&#8221; that comes after two decades of development and consultation. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to put into words how big it is. It&#8217;s definitely a day of celebration and reflection on everything that brought us to the day,&#8221; Slett said of Friday&#8217;s feast. The Heiltsuk Nation approved the adoption of a written constitution for the First Nation on British Columbia&#8217;s central coast in February. That followed six months of engagement with more than 2,000 Heiltsuk members in Bella Bella, Nanaimo and Vancouver. The nation said 67 per cent of the 725 people who voted on the referendum were in favour of the constitution.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-06-02T13:15:06+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\\\/06\\\/02\\\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/02\\\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Heiltsuk Nation ratification feast brings written constitution into force\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-02T13:15:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/02\\\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":475,\"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\\\/06\\\/02\\\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/02\\\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/02\\\/heiltsuk-nation-ratification-feast-brings-written-constitution-into-force-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Heiltsuk Nation ratification feast brings written constitution into force - 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