Hundreds of people gathered for the 20th anniversary of Denisiqi Services Society in Williams Lake on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Denisiqi was formed to sustain, support and enhance family and community life, thereby maintaining children in their own home, or when necessary, seeking custom care families to care for the children.
Community members, board members and Denisiqi staff celebrated at the Tsilhqotion National Government South Lakeside location where there was live music, great food, activities for children and the opportunity to honour past and present board members.
MC Bruce Baptiste proudly introduced each board member, sharing how many years they had served and what community they represented.
Agnes Haller from Yunesit'in First Nation has been there from the beginning.
"There were four staff members and six board members when we started," she recalled. “When the people voted us in to be a board they told us to be the best we can. Our office would be there to make our children and families to be strong.”
There were no policies and no job descriptions so they were starting from the ground up, she said.
Former Xeni Gwet’in Chief Marilyn Baptiste, is a past director who was one of the people honoured.
“Ast Indigenous peoples across B.C. and beyond, initially we never agreed with delegated agencies because is is part of the government’s process,” Baptiste said. “However, we have all agreed and worked together in the process because it’s a stepping stone for our people in gaining that full jurisdiction.”
Baptiste said they have worked with Denisiqi because it is about building up First Nations people in positions to support community members, whether they are in community or in the courts or in meetings with the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD).
“It is so crucial and I want to say to all our leadership chiefs and council it is so important for them also be in the courts and in this ministry. It is crucial to have that leadership for the judges, the lawyers and the MCFD to take note that we are there for our children.”
She thanked all the staff and board members, past and present.
Former Tl’etinqox Chief Leslie Stump was also an original board member and president of Denisiqi.
“I remember when we were doing policies and things like that,” he said. “We brought the binder of the policies forward to the board, they approved it and it was basically our Bible that we went by.”
His goal at the time of joining as a board member was for the Tsilhqot’in people to take control of their children, regardless if they lived on or off-reserve.
“They are our kids. They are our future leaders. They are the ones who are going to look after us when they grow up,” Stump said. “Our kids belong to us they don’t belong to anyone else, but our nation. That’s how I feel.”
He removed his hat for a moment and said he was doing so for all the workers at Denisiqi.
After the official ceremony, while lunch was being served, Tl’esqox First Nation Chief Francis Laceeese said the 20th anniversary means they are getting closer to full jurisdiction of their children and families as a nation.
He said while the Tsilhqot’in Nation has rights and title for 20 per cent of its territory, they also have human rights.
“It is very important for everyone to be aware of that," he said. "We are a strong resilient people and this is what it takes to keep things moving forward in a good way.”
