'Re-triggered:' Bella Coola copes with fresh trauma after fatal bear attack

Family members have identified the victims of a suspected grizzly attack in Bella Coola as Jenny Balcarras, 48, and her daughter Selah Reed, 19. Photo by Facebook /Balcarras family

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Bella Coola was already a community in mourning when that trauma was revisited this week.

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The deaths of Jenny Balcarras and her daughter Selah Reed, killed in a bear attack Sunday, hit the coastal community in central B.C. like a sledgehammer. It came just shy of the one-year mark since a group of schoolchildren and teachers were attacked by a grizzly in November 2025, leaving 11 injured — including an adult and three children left with critical injuries. Officials aren’t sure if a single bear or multiple bruins were involved in this weekend’s tragedy.

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“Our community is still healing,” said Terry Webber, chief administrative officer of the Nuxalk Nation, adding both the family and community have requested privacy as they deal with this latest trauma.

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“We’re less than a few days from the anniversary (of the 2025 attack) … We’re putting together … a few things to make sure our community is safe and as a priority. Our community members are re-triggered, and our priority is to continue to ensure they’re safe … and also ensuring that our community is supported through measures that we’ve implemented.”

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Samuel Schooner, the elected chief of the Nuxalk Nation, expanded on the measures that the small, 2,000-strong community is taking.

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“We understand first-hand the trauma this incident will inflict upon the victims’ family members, the victims of last year’s attack and the community at large. Our thoughts are with the victim’s family as they learn of this tragic event,” he said.

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“At present we are focused on taking care of community members. We want to thank our local first responders … and everyone who has reached out to offer their support.”

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As it did after the 2025 attack, the Nuxalk Nation has set up a shuttle service to help transport people around the community, so people do not have to walk alone. A self-directed curfew has been set, and officers from the B.C. Conservation Service and the RCMP are conducting patrols. Mental-health support services have also been offered, while a healing drum circle was planned for Wednesday afternoon at an area school — a private, media-free service open to the community.

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“Our hearts are broken for the families affected … We are hurting with you,” the nation posted on Facebook Tuesday.

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Balcarras, 48, spent her career helping people as an art therapist and recently as a school counsellor in Bella Bella, which is about 160 kilometres from Bella Coola, according to her LinkedIn page. She previously lived in Alberta and Alaska, the latter both in its urban capital of Juneau and the tiny town of Hollis — a community on Prince of Wales Island, which had a population of 65 at its last reported census. She spent 15 years on the island where she raised four children before moving to Bella Coola.