On May 22, 2026, in the Kitasoo Xai Xais Big House, leaders from Wuikinuxv, Nuxalk, Kitasoo Xai’xais, Heiltsuk, Gitxaała, and Gitga’at Nations signed with Canada and British Columbia historic agreements to establish Mia-yaltwa Ha’lidzogm hoon (phonetically: Me-ah-yall-twa Ha-lee-joh-gom hOH-own) as a National Marine Conservation Area Reserve on the Central Coast of British Columbia. The Nations also came together to declare Mia-yaltwa Ha’lidzogm hoon as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area. These dual designations affirm cooperative federalism and hold up collaborative governance arrangements.
Partner Nations sign historic agreement with Canada and BC in the Kitasoo Xai Xais Big House.
This vital marine area draws the name Mia-yaltwa Ha’lidzogm hoon from the Indigenous languages of the partner Nations, meaning “Realm of the Salmon, Home of the Salmon.” The Marine Protected Area, approximately 6,700 square kilometres, lays within the heart of the Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, that these Nations, and other First Nations, put into place with Canada and BC two years ago. Adjacent to the Great Bear Rainforest, this protected area is a biodiversity hotspot that supports culturally and ecologically significant fish species such as salmon, eulachon, and herring, as well as extraordinary deep-sea coral and sponge reefs, and an impressive array of whales and other marine mammals.
Mia-yaltwa Ha’lidzogm hoon will be co-governed and collaboratively managed by Canada, BC, and the Nations, with Parks Canada in the lead for Canada. It is also part of the Great Bear Sea Project Finance for Permanence Initiative, supporting Indigenous-led stewardship on the West Coast of Canada. It is the sixth conservation area of its kind in Canada and the second in BC.
The establishment of Mia-yaltwa Ha’lidzogm hoon uplifts the generational work of the Nations who have been stewarding the marine environment of the Central Coast for millennia. Establishing this protected area will help marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and culturally important values to flourish. It will also support Indigenous and coastal communities, as well as the many marine sectors, including fisheries, that depend on a healthy ocean.
Kitasoo Xai Xais were amazing hosts of this historic signing ceremony, with protocol, feasting, songs and dances that brought the Nations and Crown representatives together to mark their shared commitment to this important initiative.
Mandell Pinder congratulates all the participating Nations and their Crown Government partners on this amazing achievement and is grateful to be a part of the Nations team.
Brenda Gaertner celebrates this historic signing.
For more information:
- Marissa Birnie, CBC News, “New protected marine reserve, larger than P.E.I., to be established on B.C.’s Central Coast,” May 22, 2026
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada, “Great Bear Sea (Northern Shelf Bioregion)”
