"Sumas First Nation is trying to construct a fish weir on its traditional territory in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, in the face of environmental and bureaucratic obstacles"

"On an overcast afternoon in early August, Siyamexwelalexw (Troy Ganzeveld) paces up and down the bank of the Vedder River in Stó:lō territories.

He was hoping to have had the fish weir in place by now. Water levels are higher than average, because of a late snowmelt, and a part of him wonders whether the weir will succumb to the river’s relentless flux.

As the crew cranes the metal weir into the river, no one is confident whether it will stay.

“It’s a mixture of nervousness, tension and excitement,” says one biologist."

Amy Romer reports for IndigiNews and The Narwhal with photography by Amy Romer January 9, 2025. [2]