In a weekend full of wellness, self care and healing, Shuswap women from around the Cariboo gathered in Canim Lake from June 16-18 for the third annual Gathering of Women.
Coming from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem (Canoe Creek/Dog Creek), Xatsull (Soda Creek) and Tsq’escenemc (Canim Lake) First Nations, 50 women attended the wellness retreat.
This is the first time the retreat has been hosted by the Canim Lake Band.
“It was started because we knew we needed to get women together to get on their healing journeys,” says Canim Lake Wellness Centre administrator and counsellor Barb Geurtsen, who helped organize the event.
The weekend featured different events including a canoe journey, a tree ceremony, a sweat ceremony, various self-care activities and a trauma-informed care workshop put on by Tracy Leach, an aboriginal counsellor who also works out of the Justice Institute of British Columbia.
Leach’s workshop is designed to explain the cyclical nature of intergenerational trauma, but also to teach techniques to help people work through it.
“The importance is just bringing women together so we can talk about our experiences and recognize that no matter what paths we are on, that we all have suffered trauma and when we come together and share it helps us to recover,” says Geurtsen.
“We talked about the medicine wheel and we also talked about intergenerational trauma, also the history of our ancestors and how we are still reliving that,” says Julianne Peters, a young woman from Canim Lake.
“It’s helped me realize what is available out there for working through trauma and it also helped me realize the different types of trauma that are out there. It’s not just what I have experienced, it’s also my mother’s experience and what my grandmothers experienced and how I relate to that,” she says
“My grandmother, she grew up in a tough time, she did go to a residential school, she did experience abuse, physical abuse. So for her abuse was almost a normalized thing, so for my mom it was still normalized and it wasn’t until she got older that she realized no this isn’t normal. It’s the same with alcoholism, it’s pretty much been a normal thing throughout every single generation and now we’re finally getting to a generation where people are getting sober at a younger age.”
Notable at the event were the different generations of indigenous women coming together. Young women and elders were present and taking part in the different activities.
Ruby Boyce, who was participating in the event with her 12-year-old daughter, says she is on her own path to wellness.
“My daughter is turning 13 and I think it is extremely important to start healing myself before I end up hurting my future grandchildren, my future great great grandchildren,” she says.
Coming together for the weekend, she says, has helped her along her path.
“Some people are packing heavy stuff in here and we’re all here and we’re all women and I think it is about empowering people and women,” she says. “It’s really important for us to try and connect and help each other instead of being divided. It’s really important for us to try and connect and help each other.”
Elder Elsie Archie echoes that sentiment.
“I listened to the stories and I felt that some of their problems are my same problems and I thought I was alone with my problems,” she says.
“It’s always good for people to get together, especially women, and know that they support each other and to be there just to let us know that they care too.”
Elder Toni Archie also says the event helped her to feel less alone with her struggles.
“Years ago our elders, our communities were tightly knit and they helped each other. The children were their children, they were helping each other raise your children. The elders were there for you, for the whole community and they were there to help you out, to tell you what is right and what is wrong,” she says.
“Sessions like these are helpful not only to our community but to other people who visit here.”
The weekend wasn’t all serious. While counselling was available in case women needed to debrief, participants also had a chance to try out yoga or tai chi, create crafts and hand scrubs, and reconnect with the earth and water through other activities. Free haircuts and massages were also available and each evening the men in the community prepared sweat ceremonies for the gathering.
“The whole community comes together to help put on the best event that can be. Everybody just participates and helps out,” says Goertsen, thanking the fire department, 4-H and North American Indigenous Games teams, among other volunteers, that helped out for the event.
For the women, having the chance to spend time together and build new friendships was also a highlight.
“I’m really enjoying spending time with friends and family. It makes me take time for myself and also makes me realize that the other people that are here, what they are going through. It’s making me step out of my comfort zone and get to know people and get into the community again,” says Peters.
Next year’s wellness event will be held at Canoe Creek/Dog Creek.
“I strongly believe that in order to grow and to be helpful to each other we should have more gatherings like this where we can support each other,” says Toni. “Getting together with the other communities, they know we are there for them and they are there for each other.”