Secwépemc hereditary family builds ceremony house for healing
It will be a safe space for “winter dance, ceremonies, and sweat lodges, a place for people to land in,” says Secwépemc Matriarch Miranda Dick.
After celebrating ‘No thanks, no giving’ together over the weekend, Miranda Dick and her family broke ground on a new ceremony house for Indigenous Peoples.
Using grassroots resources and without help from colonial entities, Dick says she aims to create a safe place for “winter dance, ceremonies, and sweat lodges, a place for people to land in.”
It’s about “recognizing what the needs are in community and nations,” especially with respect to residential school survivors and their children, says the Secwépemc Hereditary Matriarch.
“It’s all about what the people want,” she says. “We want healing lodges, we want our language.”
The new ceremony house will be located at Dick’s family residence in the Neskonlith Indian Band community, on unceded Secwépemc territory, just outside of Chase, B.C.
“The ceremony house was my dad’s vision,” Dick says.
“We’re always going to syilx territory or to the sinixt territory to sing, so my dad was saying we needed to have a ceremony house for winter dance.”
She says her father, Secwépemc Hereditary Chief Saw-ses, came up with the idea for the ceremony house after a trip to Vancouver in 2019.
They’d gone there to participate in a rally and attend to their hereditary responsibilities, and they returned home feeling “very cold and defeated,” Dick says.
“We needed a place to go back to to just come and regroup.”
The lodge is also inspired by her late grandfather, Secwépemc Elder William Jones “Wolverine” Ignace, who fed frontline land defenders from his garden. Dick says Wolverine taught her about the importance of “protection before action.”
“Everything is revolved around ceremony and that’s something Grandpa was saying with ‘protection before action,’” she says.
Dick says her family aims to complete the project as soon as possible, as funds and labour resources become available. They are inviting people to make a contribution to help cover the costs of creating this healing space through this gofundme page.
Author
We live in a media ecosystem that thrives on misinformation. Big Tech and AI companies are consuming the work of real human beings and Canadian news has been banned on Facebook and Instagram.
And yet, I have hope for journalism because of the work we’re doing at IndigiNews.
At IndigiNews, we embody tâpwêwin — the Cree value of integrity and responsibility in truth-telling. We are committed to our independent, Indigenous-led newsroom rooted in community, accountability, and relationality. We believe storytelling is a sacred fire that connects our pasts, presents, and futures through the storytellers in our Storytelling Lodge. IndigiNews creates space for Indigenous journalists, storytellers, Knowledge Keepers, and communities to gather, learn, and share stories that matter.
As a registered charity, we are building a fire that allows our work not just to ignite but to thrive. Rather than relying on advertising or corporate acquisition, IndigiNews is sustained by people like you who believe Indigenous stories are important for the future of our communities.
Your support is making a real difference.
Our community of supporters, our Firekeepers, make it possible to grow our newsroom, publish award-winning journalism, train emerging Indigenous journalists through initiatives like the ReFocus Photojournalism Fellowship, and publish trustworthy stories that serve our communities across the country. Every story we publish helps fill in gaps left by mainstream media and ensures Indigenous perspectives are represented with care, accuracy and respect.
But there is still more work to do.
As the media landscape becomes more and more uncertain, community support is as necessary and essential as it’s ever been. Every new Firekeeper helps protect the independence of our newsroom and strengthens journalism that is accountable to our many and varied communities over corporations.
That’s why we’re inviting you to become a Firekeeper.
Firekeepers tend to and protect the sacred fire. Your monthly contributions directly support IndigiNews’s Storytelling Lodge, helps sustain our independent, Indigenous-led newsroom, and ensures future generations of Indigenous storytellers have the resources they need to do the work.
As a registered Canadian charity, all eligible donations receive a charitable tax receipt.
If you believe Indigenous stories matter, if you value independent journalism, and if you want to help build a strong future for Indigenous media, we invite you to join our circle of Firekeepers today.
Together, we can keep the fire burning.
— Eden Fineday, Publisher, IndigiNews
Support us nowLatest Stories
-
‘Love Medicine’ exhibition celebrates Two Spirit and Indigiqueer artists
Curated by Métis art historian Michelle McGeough, 22 Indigenous 2SLGBTQIA+ artists explore the idea of love as healing, belonging — and resistance — in a Oskana kâ-asastêki (Regina) gallery
-
‘Rhythm crafted for the human voice’: Poet kit-xgwélemc kennedy wins an Indigenous Voices Award
Member of St’uxwtéws Secwépemc Nation recognized in unpublished poetry category — following in his wordsmith mom’s footsteps
