Interesting. Every new years day on X, my follower count would go down as people quit social media for their new years resolution. Here on Bsky? No change.

As of January 1st, the BC LowerMainland (southwest) has 46 First Nations, with a collective band membership of 29,083 and a reserve area of 352.1 Square Kilometres. There will be 10 band elections this year, with 3 in Metro Vancouver. 1 Metro Vancouver land claim will be on trial this year. 1

Sigh. We're heading out for the night. I'm already tired. Every new years, I'm reminded of that time, my first year in Italy, when I went around wishing everybody a "Good Anus" (Buon ano instead of buon anno). So may the fibre be with you.

MTV is officially ending all of its music channels. In honoUr of that, what's your favoUrite music video? www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGIf...

Outlook for the new year ...

It’s been so pretty the last few days with this fog.

We need to change the way we use Indigenous names for streets, towns, buildings, etc... substack.com/@rjjago/note...?

In English these are the Lions, in Squamish they're Ch'ích'iyúy Elxwíḵn - the Twin Sisters. I've heard a few versions of their story but the one I like best is the that this is them frozen in time, turned to stone while knitting a wool blanket -- which, now that they're all snowy, makes sense.

Ok, counter argument: the debate over Sasquatch is about the misunderstanding of what's meant by it, and that comes down to how it was misappropriated - and the museum described in this piece exemplifies that. I talked about how it was misappropriated here btw: www.canadaland.com/sasquatch-ro...

I filed a complaint with the Canadian Judicial Council today. My First Nation's governance dispute has been siting with the judge for 2 years, waiting a decision. substack.com/@rjjago/note...

The Atlantic has updated their article to correct some of Frum's mistakes. However they didn't correct his denialist stuff. I work 50 meters from a lab where they recently identified a body recovered from a GPR search. A child who died at residential school, and was finally returned to their family.

New book on its way! For the last few years I’ve been working on ‘The First Hundred Hours, a story of Alien Invasion.’ Updates coming soon!

Incoming lateral violence: they left off the store link! walking-eagle-trading-post.myshopify.com

David Frum's latest anti-Native rights piece in the Atlantic is so misinformed, so carelessly put together that he confused the band number with the population. Kwikwetlem is band code 560 - an administrative number from ISC. The population is 153. 1

Someone shared this with me - a positive mention I got in this podcast, talking about BDS of Israel and Russia: youtu.be/f7MbBF-aP1A?...

I thought this was satirical, but no, it's real - there's video.

Wrote a thing on substack: substack.com/@rjjago/note...

There's a saying: if someone wants to stop you from talking about it - it's news. If someone wants you to talk about it, it's propaganda or advertising.

Stumbled on to the Shipyards Christmas Market in North Van. So actually impressed by it - at least compared to Vancouver's Christmas Market. Got spaetzle - I love Swiss food (a top 10 cuisine).

I'm finishing off a project and I need your help for part of it. If you do Indigenous Land Acknowledgements at your meetings, classes, or events - why do you do them? If you don't do them, or if they bother you in some way - why? Can you please share this and also let me know your views either way?

Lots of pipeline talk there - 2 threads worth reading. Just a quick note on the Native side. Your average margin of victory in a First Nations band election is fewer than 50 votes. One nation, if aggressively mobilized by the chief and council can exponentially increase the cost of a pipeline. 1

"The world is boiled down to aphorisms and fairy tales." Claire North, "The Sudden Appearance of Hope"

Every time I see Bari Weiss mentioned on here…

Washington State set up a special unit to investigate cold cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people. They just got their first conviction www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Hypothesis: Modern microphones and sound systems have destroyed the gruff macho fashy voice that guys like Peterson want to emulate. So without a rowdy beerhall to shout over, they end up sounding like grumpy muppets. 1/2

Danielle Smith wants to export oil through Washington State. Washington’s governor recognizes UNDRIP, ‘free prior informed consent’ and an Indigenous veto. Proving that the right’s complaints about Natives or UNDRIP are BS. 1 nationalpost.com/news/canada/...

That money grubbing minority is part of a vast international conspiracy to destroy hard working BCers.’ No! Not THAT international conspiracy, I mean the Indians. No! Not THOSE Indians…

The BCOne collapse is basically this Community meme. Or maybe it’s Casablanca, and BCOne leadership is shocked, shocked! To see anti-semitism sneak into their wholesome Injun hating genocide denialist group.

In Montreal for the weekend - it’s so Christmassy here. My wife’s dad is an old guy with a white beard and red hat… so at Xmas, it’s like hanging with a celebrity. Every few minutes, a kid shouting: ‘pere noel’ or ‘santa’ 1/2

The Langley mayor’s intervention in Cowichan feels ‘off’. This same person, tried to give land back to Kwantlen, on the condition that he be allowed to develop it without city zoning rules. Kwantlen’s people rejected it, because we didn’t want to wreck Fort Langley.

I love that people are reacting positively to my actually unpopular opinion - that when we use IPA when writing Salish words, we provide an anglicized transliteration so everyone can use it. I think of us standing around my mom's street sign on rez, arguing about how to pronounce it...

My Tyee article is out - on the stalewasem bridge: thetyee.ca/Culture/2025...

I've got an article coming out tomorrow, and in it, I mention the historical Kwantlen village of qiqeyt (Qayqayt), and just in case people confuse the real village with the manufactured Indian Band that appropriated the name, I wrote an explainer here: substack.com/@rjjago/note...

Saw this post by Karyn @karynpugliese.bsky.social clearing up some things. karynpugliese.substack.com/p/live-from-...

With allies like these, who needs enemies?

Reading non-stop complaints about the name of the bridge. I worked on this project - total nightmare (unrelated to the name - my choice would have been Whattlekainum). Anything Native, anything, and people lose their minds. There’s hate and there’s HATE. Such dorks.

The Pattullo replacement bridge is being called the: stal̕əw̓asəm - stalew is the name of the river, and rivers in general in henqeminem. asem is view. So: ‘Riverview’ Bridge. Pron: stall-o-awesome. Which is a funnily appropriate name for a bridge. “ Stall?! Oh… awesome :( “

Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.

Conversations on Indigenous affairs that don’t include Indigenous people don’t matter, by definition. Also, you misspelled that lawyer’s name @vancouversun.bsky.social

This is so funny. But also... as always... Simpsons predicted it. www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/s...

What happens in Whistler, stays in Whistler, apparently...

Impressive moonrise over the mountain here in Whistler

Talking of Native screen content, just saw this... and OMG, make it:

Yesterday I was up on that pipeline route and a First Nation land guardian was explaining to me the riskiness of shipping oil on those waterways and I kept thinking: how f-ing broke is Canada that it’s thinking of doing this? This is ‘selling your kidney’ level of desperation.

Give me money and I’ll make Corner Smokes - a Native spinoff of Corner Gas where Davis moves to rez to take over his late aunt’s smokeshop. I’m not saying I’ve written the first episode and show bible, but...

Up in Kitsumkalum today with their nation’s land Guardians, to interview them about their work/shadow them for the day. Also, crossed over into Nisga’a territory to check out their lava beds.

I’ve got an article out in the Star today about the Thomas King issue:

Meanwhile back in the real world... I'm up in Kitsumkalum First Nation tomorrow - the furthest north I've ever been to in Canada. While everyone's been losing their minds about Cowichan getting 5km's of landback, Kitsumkalum just got 500km.

Amazon’s top ten books on First Nations includes 2 residential school denialist books, and 1 book by Thomas King.

"Hello, police? We need a wellness check at 541 Acacia Avenue in Ottawa..."