A new book about the life of Cecilia Dick-DeRose is a page turner.
I sat down and read all 192 pages on the Monday of the May long weekend and while there were things I already knew about her life, there were many details I did not know about.
A Secwépemc knowledge keeper and language teacher, DeRose is also a mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
It was nice to see her children's voices featured in the book.
Cecilia has won many accolades for her efforts including a BC Language Champion Award in July 2011, a 2018 Indspire Award for Culture, Heritage and Spirituality, and in 2024 she received an honorary doctor of letters from Thompson Rivers University.
Her parents were Matthew Dick and Amelia Joe who were married on Feb. 1, 1930. Cecilia was born on Jan. 14, 1925 at Esk'et, the fourth of 10 children.
The family often lived in a meadow, following their father's work as he ran a guide outfitting business and had hay leases on three meadows in the area.
"We had a house at Esk'et, but our main home was at Moose Meadow, about twenty-five miles away toward Lac La Hache," she writes in the book. "It took a day and a half to get there by team and wagon from Esk'et."
Cecilia and her siblings attended St. Joseph's Mission Indian Residential School and later she worked there as well.
Williams Lake author Sage Birchwater helped Cecilia write the book, building on a friendship the two have shared for more than half a century.
In his foreword, Birchwater talked about the strength of the DeRose family and the support Cecilia's children give her now as she is a senior.
"This care and devotion is heartwarming, and deserved," Birchwater noted. "Cecelia fought like a lion for her children and kept reminding them they had one arrow left: education. And her kids are indeed using it wisely."
There will be a book launch at Thompson Rivers University Williams Lake Campus at the Gathering Place Thursday, June 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. and a book signing the following Tuesday, June 24 at the Station House Gallery from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Meanwhile the book, published by Caitlin Press in Qualicum Beach, B.C., is available at Save-on-Foods book section, the Station House Gallery, Native Arts & Crafts (the Friendship Centre gift shoppe), The Open Book, the Tourist Discovery Centre/Museum and Likely Museum.
