Speaking the Language of the Land: Secwépemctsin Family Language & Culture Camp

Secwepemcúl̓ecw greets us with the crisp, golden breath of late summer, whispering ancient truths through the pine needles and the shifting river currents. I write as Cheryl Matthew, PhD, author, educator, and community researcher rooted in the territories we share, holding space between ancestral stewardship and contemporary academic practice. We stand at a crucial crossroads of cultural preservation, where every uttered syllable of our mother tongue acts as an anchor for future generations.

The language belongs to the soil.

It carries the weight of millennia.

It breathes life into our collective memory.

The Call of the Arbor

On Sunday, September 6, 2026, the Skw’lax Pow Wow Arbor held families and community members for a day grounded in Secwépemctsín language, culture, and connection. Q Healing held the Secwépemctsin Family Language and Culture Camp as an immersive gathering that reconnected people with the heartbeat of Secwepemcúl̓ecw. This was not merely an educational workshop. It was an act of profound cultural recovery and spiritual necessity.

The land held us.

The teachings guided us.

The community gathered in unity.

Event Details and Immersion

• Date: Sunday, September 6, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
• Location: Skw’lax Pow Wow Arbor

The day unfolded through Secwépemctsín language teaching, TPR (Total Physical Response) activities, drum songs, storytelling, plant medicine teaching, the Secwépemc Water Song, and a breakout practice session. Whether participants were speaking their first words of Secwépemctsín or strengthening what they already knew, the camp created a supportive, welcoming environment rooted in relational accountability and mutual respect.

A 48-page Secwépemctsín Learning Booklet was created for the language camps so learners would have something tangible to use during the camps and continue learning from afterward. It included greetings and introductions, family and relatives, place, plants and medicines, meals and everyday language, prayers, TPR activities, songs, and space for learners to record teachings and new words.

Voices of the Elders and Knowledge Keepers

Language revitalization cannot happen in a vacuum. It requires the living breath of fluent speakers, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers who have safeguarded our stories through decades of systemic erasure. Spending time with our Elders is a sacred responsibility. They carry the maps of our history, the grammar of our resilience, and the spirit of our laws.

Elder Geri Matthew and Catherine Billy led the Secwépemctsín language teaching at the camp, grounding the day in lived knowledge, patience, and care.

When an Elder speaks Secwépemctsín under the arbor, time bends.

The classroom walls dissolve.

Generations collapse into a single heartbeat.

Through storytelling, drum songs, the Secwépemc Water Song, and guided language practice, participants were supported in speaking and hearing words that have echoed across these valleys since time immemorial. Every vowel held the frequency of the mountains. Every consonant honored the rivers that sustain us.

Their teaching also reflected the broader language work being carried forward through Q Healing, including twice-weekly Secwépemctsín Zoom classes taught by Catherine Billy and Elder Geri Matthew.

Plant and Medicine Teachings

Our connection to the land deepened as we learned to name and honor the botanical relatives that surround us. Plant medicine teaching formed an important part of the day, helping participants connect language, place, and responsibility in a grounded and practical way.

To know a plant by its Secwépemctsín name is to understand its role in our ecosystem.

It is a relationship of reciprocity.

It is an acknowledgement of our shared breath.

These teachings bridged the gap between historical survival and modern wellness. They reminded us that true healing is inherently land-based, and that language revitalization is inseparable from remembering our relationship to the land itself.

The Sweatlodge and Spiritual Integration

The camp also held space for sweatlodge ceremony and teachings. This sacred part of the day offered time for reflection, prayer, and spiritual renewal, held within the broader rhythm of language, land, and community connection.

The steam rose.

The prayers ascended.

The community held the circle.

This part of the day reminded us that language learning is not separate from spirit. It lives alongside ceremony, relationship, and the responsibilities we carry to one another and to the land.

Carrying the Day Forward

What was shared at the Secwépemctsin Family Language and Culture Camp did not end when the day closed at the arbor. The teachings carried forward in memory, in practice, and in relationship. They carried forward in the words spoken by children and adults. In the songs remembered. In the stories retold. In the medicines recognized. In the prayers offered in the sweatlodge. In the quiet strength of gathering together on the land.

The breakout practice session gave participants space to use what they were learning together, and the 48-page Secwépemctsín Learning Booklet offered something tangible to carry home and continue learning from after the camp.

That ongoing commitment mattered. Q Healing also planned a second land-based language camp for late October 2026, focused on salmon, as part of the continuing work of bringing language learning back onto the land and into community.

For information about future camps and programs, please visit Q Healing or contact info@qhealing.ca.