Team Skú7pecen Guardians Program
2022 was the inaugural year hosting the Team Skú7pecen High School Summer Guardians program at Qwelmínte Secwépemc. We saw great success and have continued the program again summer of 2023. Following our Team Skú7pecen capacity-building model, eleven high school students ranging from grades 8-12 joined us to work full-time over the summer months (July-August). The goal of the program is to build well rounded individuals who “Walk on Two Legs” (Western and Indigenous ways of knowing and being) in their daily lives. We want to lift up Indigenous youth because they are our next generation of stewards, technicians, and leaders who will continue the momentum of the work being done by the Qwelmínte Secwépemc collective.
The program involved on-the-land learning, speaker series presentations, and mentorship at the Qwelmínte Secwépemc Office. The Guardians picked traditional foods and medicines as well participated in other cultural activities. They attended skill-building workshops and had professional development opportunities such as Microsoft 360 training and learned the history of Secwépemc Peoples as well Indigenous Peoples throughout Canada.
Qwelmínte Secwépemc provided a unique structure to the Guardians, introducing them to professional work in an office setting that also upholds Secwépemc Law. The program empowers both Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth by providing them with foundational knowledge to ensure that they become well-rounded leaders of the future; we look forward to expanding this program in the years to come.
The gallery is comprised of pictures that were taken during summer speaker series events.
Guardians Program Coordinator
Jazmen Pigeon
Jazmen is a member of the Nlaka’pamux and Secwépemc Nations, and lives in Secwepemcúl̓ecw. She recently graduated from TRU with her Bachelor of Education and is now a kindergarten teacher at Chief Atahm in Adams Lake. She is also taking a degree in Secwepemctsín to fufill her goal of becoming fluent to teach and help revitalize the language. Jazmen finds language revitalization at the forefront of her passions, which connects her with a love for the tmícw. Throughout her education and employment, she has advocated for Secwépemc values to be represented in a way that honors the past and manifests a change in the future. By engaging in the experiential learning of the Secwépemc ways of knowing and incorporating this directly into her Western views, she is upholding and living the concept of ‘Walking on Two Legs.’ Jazmen strives to represent both ways of knowing as she continues her journey to becoming an educator carrying forward the knowledge she will gain for the betterment of Secwepemcúl̓ecw.
Speaker Series
Qwelmínte Secwépemc has undertaken a summer speaker series showcasing a variety of guest speakers, including both Elders and Knowledge Carriers from Secwépemc communities and the Province, sharing their expertise, knowledge, and experiences. The goal of the speaker series is to allow the Qwelmínte Secwépemc interns and summer guardians the opportunity to build relationships and gain valuable knowledge in order to foster a vibrant and resilient network of practitioners, grounded in both Secwépemc and Western knowledge. The knowledge and expertise provided by speakers will allow Team Skú7pecen to better understand and practice Walking on Two Legs, giving the ability to implement it into our lives and communities so that we may be great and good.