shíshálh Nation’s first woman elected hiwus (chief) was honoured along with four councillors in an inauguration ceremony.
On June 10, people gathered at the Nation’s longhouse for a celebration that lasted around four hours. lhe hiwus yalxwemult (Chief Lenora Joe), and hehiwus (councillors) ch’elkwilwet (Raquel Joe), niniwum salepem (Shain Jackson), Philip Paul and oshale (Rochelle Jones) were given regalia especially prepared for the ceremony. The cedar headbands, a cedar hat with slate arrows, vests and blanket shawls were woven by shíshálh Nation members and family members of the chief and council.
“When we're representing our community, we want to ensure that it's very clear where our hearts are coming from. Wearing your regalia, you stand proud, tall for your people, for your family, for our elders, for our ancestors. It’s showing that pride and letting it shine through,” yalxwemult said in an interview after the event.
“It really was a full community effort,” xwash (Steven Feschuk), the Nation’s protector of culture, said. Organizing such an event takes time, as appropriate protocols must be followed, he said.
“We’re trying to go back to our traditions, our culture, our ancestral ways,” yalxwemult said.
Although the new council had already taken their oath of office, they asked for it to be translated into she shashishalhem, the shíshálh Nation’s traditional language, for the swearing-in ceremony.
It “was translated beautifully,” yalxwemult said. “That is a huge step for our leaders to start acknowledging our culture and our language, in everything that we do. It's not just in ceremony. It's not just when we’re in our longhouse.”
Before the ceremony, four out of the five current leadership held traditional names passed down by their ancestors. xwash said chief and council consulted with hehiwus Philip Paul’s family about him receiving a traditional name and how they would like that to be done. Paul’s mother, a shíshálh Nation elder, felt it was appropriate as Paul is a leader in the community, and “important for him to connect to his ancestry and shíshálh Nation people,” xwash said. Just before the swearing in ceremony, Paul was given the name xwaʔ after his great-grandfather, a hereditary chief also known as Chief Gaspard John.
“The entire community was very happy to see that work taking place and he had a lot of support from his family and friends that were there that witnessed the work. He had some of our past chiefs there as witnesses that spoke at the event about how important that work was,” xwash said of Paul receiving his ancestral name.
Among the well-attended event were many dignitaries and RoseAnne Archibald, the first woman elected as the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, who also spoke during the ceremony. Other leaders who wanted to attend contacted shíshálh Nation council after having been unable to reserve passage on the ferry.
The current council took time to acknowledge and honour the outgoing leadership with the community for all the work they did during their term. yalxwemult noted that much of the work the current council is undertaking was started generations ago and by other leadership.
