After 20 years of work, the Northern Secwepmec Cultural Society is preparing to open the newly named Ckultenellcw Cultural Centre.
Ckultenellcw, meaning 'Our Culture of Long Ago' in Secwepmec, is located just across the street from the 108 Heritage Site on a two-acre parcel of land leased to the society by the Cariboo Regional District for $1 a year for the next 99 years. This week longtime project facilitator Graham Leslie was happy to see the keys to the newly completed building turned over to the society.
"It hasn't quite sunk in yet. I know we are going to be really excited at some point, but we're not quite there yet. There's still enough to be done but it's certainly incredibly gratifying," Leslie said.
Irene Gilbert, president of the society, shares Leslie's feelings, noting that while she is excited the project is so close to completion, it still doesn't quite feel real. Gilbert, a member of the Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation, has been involved with the project since 2007 and has been president for the last four years.
"It was a side of my desk job, like most of us, and the reason I got involved is because I take care of the archives at the Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation," Gilbert said. "I have been working since probably 1997 on a lot of the interviews. I've taken our archives and changed them from cassette tapes and VHS to digital format. I have a lot of knowledge of the Tsq̓éscen̓ history."
Leslie has been involved in the project since its beginning in late 2003 when five Northern Secwepmec communities including the Williams Lake First Nation, the Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation, Esk’etemc First Nation, Stswecem'c Xget'tem First Nation and the Xatśūll First Nation all came together to support the construction of a cultural centre. In the years since he said he and several other society members like Gilbert have worked slowly and steadily to bring this idea to life by conducting surveys, writing grants, commissioning architectural designs and locating potential artifacts for the exhibits.
Gilbert remarked it has been a team effort to get this far and praised Leslie for his hard work, saying he has a "mighty pen" that's helped them a lot over the years. She said that Tsq̓éscen̓'s chief and council have also been very supportive over the last two decades.
It wasn't until 2022, however, that Leslie said the project received a shot in the arm when the federal government gave them a $4-million grant to build the centre. When they later learned the cost would be closer to $6.5-million, Leslie remarked the federal government was willing to foot the extra cost with additional grants.
"The federal people we have worked with have been amazing. They obviously understand the project and its objectives and believe in them," Leslie said.
The land itself, while now leased by the CRD, was acquired by the society with Telus and the 108 Greenbelt Commission donating portions of the land and the Ministry of Highways selling it to them.
In May of 2023, the project seemed on track to be completed by the fall until the BC Archeology Branch issued a sudden stop-work order. While the issue was resolved after two weeks, Leslie said the lost time led to construction being delayed until the finishing touches could be completed this year.
As of this month, Leslie said the 5,000-square-foot building has been completed and, pending some final building inspections, is ready to be occupied. In addition to the main room, Leslie said the facility is equipped with a small kitchen, meeting rooms and AV equipment. He and the society will be spending the rest of the summer preparing the centre for a soft opening scheduled for Sept. 6, 2024.
"We have secured additional funding for the exhibit design people. They did the Canim Lake Band two years ago and Stswecem'c Xget'tem last year," Leslie remarked. "They've developed some of the programs and stories the communities would like to share and they're working with the Esk’etemc (right now). There's a huge collection of stories and story ideas."
Long-term, Gilbert said she hopes to include exhibits about the Williams Lake First Nation and Xatśūll First Nation to add to the ones they're putting together on the other nations.
Leslie explained they don't want to do a grand opening for Ckultenellcw until they have its exhibits ready to display. He said they're currently working on producing some large banners to hang from the ceiling which will tell visitors about what's to come and give brief histories of the participating communities.
While many artifacts are currently kept in their respective communities' archives some are currently in the possessions of museums such as the Royal B.C. Museum, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC and the Glenbow Museum. Leslie said he's received a commitment from several of them to return these artifacts once Ckultenellcw is ready to house them. The society plans to use the remaining funds from a $300,000 Northern Development Initiative Trust grant to purchase exhibit cases and other items they'll need for these exhibits.
The outside exhibits for the centre, however, will be ready to go. Leslie explained the landscaping has been done so that when approaching the centre visitors will walk past eight signs detailing what life was like for the Northern Secwepmec people before colonial contact and post-colonial contact.
"Then the idea is you get into the building and it will be really focused on the word resilience. This is how the modern Northern Secwepmec people are coming out of all that," Leslie said.
In the meantime, Leslie said the plan is to rent the centre out and use it as a place for Secwepmec people to come together. More details on the soft opening and the eventual grand opening will be provided in the coming months.
