Nuxalk Nation calls for mental health supports after bear attack

More than one month after a grizzly bear violently attacked a group of students and staff on a field trip in Bella Coola, the chief of the Nuxalk Nation is calling for more mental health support in the community.

Chief Councillor Samuel Schooner says the Nov. 20 attack on a Year 4-5 class will have long-lasting effects.

“This is going to be ongoing for a while,” said Schooner. “The trauma that they went through during that time … they’re going to re-live that and conversations over the years. So, how do we support that? We need somebody here to help them … to prepare them.”

He says it is hard to attract mental health professionals to remote areas due to a lack of housing and financial benefits.

A day after the attack, Minister of Environment and Parks Tamara Davidson announced staff from the Ministry of Education and Child Care met with the Nation to offer crisis, trauma and safety supports.

Schooner says both Davidson and Premier David Eby contacted him after the attack, but claims he heard little to nothing from their Member of Parliament.

“[Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Ellis Ross] said that he tried to contact us and it was about a meeting with the [Bella Coola] Rod and Gun Club,” said Schooner. “He has my cell number, and he said … his people tried to reach out to us and set up meetings. I just don’t buy that at all; that is not acceptable.”

Three students and a staff member were severely injured in the attack. A parent of one of the students says her son was “traumatized” by the attack and even felt the bear’s fur.

Captured bears were released again

Over the next two weeks, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service attempted to find the bear. Eight bears were captured and released after investigators determined they were not responsible for the attack.

The search was called off on Dec 5, as local bears began denning. A conservation officer has since been stationed full-time in Bella Coola to assist the community when needed.

Schooner says they live in an area where the possibility of encountering wildlife will always be there.

“You’re going to run into bears … whether it be a black bear, grizzly bear, cougar, wolverine or wolves … we have them all here.”

The service says the bear’s actions were aggressive and unlike any other documented grizzly bear attack they’ve seen in B.C., or Canada.