Before pandemic lockdowns went into place across British Columbia, CBC reporter Angela Sterritt travelled to Bella Bella to report on a washing ceremony by the Heiltsuk Nation.
Her trip to the community followed her reporting on an incident in which Maxwell Johnson and his 12-year-old granddaughter, Tori-Anne — both from the Heiltsuk Nation — were handcuffed by Vancouver police outside a downtown Vancouver branch of the Bank of Montreal. An employee had falsely suspected them of fraud as they tried to open Tori’s first bank account and had called the police on them. Tori-Anne cried through the ordeal.