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Community calls for urgent government action as our search for Dakota Smith continues

PUBLIC UPDATE | November 10, 2026


Our beloved James “Dakota” Smith remains missing. 

In this dark time, the love and support surrounding Dakota’s family and our Ma’amtagila community has held us up. It is a testament to Dakota and the way he has lived his life: with purpose, passion, and above all, love for his land.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who continues to contribute their time, resources, knowledge, and prayers. Volunteers are arriving from across Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw territory and beyond, with support from Miss Chief of Nawalakw, Liard River II of Tlatlasikwala, Mikeal Henry, Eagle 31 of Palyn Water Taxi, the ’Namgis Nation, the Tlowitsis Guardians; V/I Knight of Mamalilikulla First Nation; Capt. Cedric and the Lora Jane; and others.

Meanwhile, the RCMP announced today that they will no longer support our search efforts. They have withdrawn their highly skilled and resourced professional team, leaving our volunteers to work in increasingly dangerous conditions. 

Dakota’s courageous partner Leo Peet-Kennedy is helping lead a seven-person team on Cracroft Island. From our basecamp at Eve River, the search continues on land and water. Donations support all their practical and safety needs: from fuel and PFDs, to helicopter rental for delivering supplies.

Every offer of help sustains the people working to bring Dakota home, but our community cannot carry this effort alone. As the scope and scale of the search expands, we are increasingly concerned about worsening conditions and the safety of our volunteers. 

“All this work is community driven but we’re not professionals,” said Dakota’s aunt Jennifer Hamdzas Ambers. “What we need now is the people with specialized knowledge and equipment, the teams that train for exactly this kind of crisis.”

While we are grateful for the personal support we’ve received from North Island MLA Dr. Anna Kindy, the growing scale of this search demands a coordinated government response. 

The Ma’amtagila Tribe Society is calling on the Federal government, the Province of British Columbia, and RCMP leadership to work together to support a coordinated, properly resourced search operation for Dakota Smith.

We call on the RCMP to:

  • Take a leading role in creating a coordinated search and recovery plan with Ma’amtagila search organizers

  • Request continued deployment of Campbell River Search and Rescue through BC’s Emergency Coordination Centre.

  • Submit an urgent request to JRCC Victoria to review the appropriate federal air and marine assistance, and provide us with a written explanation of their decisions

  • Obtain an urgent assessment from their West Coast Marine Services and Underwater Recovery Team


We call on the Province of British Columbia to:

  • Support the RCMP’s request for continued deployment of Campbell River Search and Rescue

  • Provide trained radio operators and communications equipment to maintain contact with land and water teams and track their locations


We call on the Federal Government to:

  • Authorize Coast Guard vessels and skilled crews to assist the RCMP-led operation

  • Urgently respond to requests for Canadian Armed Forces helicopter assistance to transport search teams and equipment to remote locations, including West Cracroft Island

The RCMP has identified conditions as too dangerous for its search teams, but our community faces those same dangers, and we will not stop looking for Dakota. We need professional support, equipment, and coordination to continue as safely as conditions permit. We ask them to support us and help prevent another accident or tragedy.

Please stand with Dakota’s family and help us bring him home.

Donations & search support

Media contact

Mayana Slobodian
Ma’amtagila Tribe Society
mayana@maamtagila.ca
206 902 0642