Image: Ross Aikenhead, used with permission / An excavator was used during Sunday's cleanup of a problematic homeless camp. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Homeless encampment in Chilliwack

Soowahlie First Nation takes action on homeless camp due to government inaction

Apr 7, 2025 | 6:44 AM

CHILLIWACK — As promised, Soowahlie First Nation and its supporters took matters into their own hands Sunday (Apr. 6) during a cleanup of a homeless encampment near the Vedder Bridge.

With at least 75 people in attendance, the Chilliwack-area First Nation invited the community to eradicate a homeless camp on the banks of the Chilliwack River where drug use, countless trash, fires and other maladies occurred spanning several years, and where government authorities never bothered to intervene, despite repeated pleas by from the band to assist.

Image: Contributed / Crowds gather during Sunday’s cleanup event of a homeless encampment near The Eddy commercial shopping plaza.

Longtime Chilliwack resident and cleanup volunteer Ross Aikenhead, one of the attendees, told Fraser Valley Today that he was delighted with the turnout and the outcome.

“I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout and how much got done,” Aikenhead said. “Almost all the large items are gone but there’s still small stuff scattered everywhere.”

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Jason Walters, a Chilliwack resident who was previously involved in a cleanup on Soowahlie’s sovereign land back in February 2025, contributed to the cleanup with a skid steer and dump trailer.

“We used our big bins to dump into the dump trailer and then dumped it down the road, and a big excavator loaded it into Valley Disposal bins” Walters said. “And some super sacks were used.”

Wayne Furness of F.H. Forestry Ltd. brought his excavator to extract larger items for removal.

Aikenhead said he arrived at the site at approximately 10 a.m. Sunday morning to find the encampment vacant.

Leading up to the cleanup event, Soowahlie FN had expressed frustration with the camp due to numerous issues associated with the problematic camp.

“At the entrance of Sweltzer Creek Road, known to us as ‘The Eddy,’ a longstanding encampment has caused serious harm to our community, with issues including open fires, illicit activity, water contamination, and unsafe interactions with community members,” Soowahlie said in a news release.

The band said after years of outreach and unacknowledged requests for support, it would step forward to exercise its ancestral, legal, and inherent rights.

“We call on our community and allies to join us on Sunday, April 6, 2025, at noon, halfway between our gate and The Eddy. Bring your drums, your voices, your presence. Parking will be on one side of the road,” Soowahlie said. “This is a peaceful and powerful gathering—no aggressive or violent behavior will be tolerated. We gather as protectors, not enforcers.”