Next Steps and SNTC

The Secwépemc Nation is one Nation involved in the National Project and was chosen by UVIC to lead the research of Secwépemc laws due to the past experience of members of the team. The research is being conducted by Secwépemc for Secwépemc. The UVIC Next Steps Secwépemc research team consists of Sunny LeBourdais, Bonnie Leonard, Julianne Peters, Mikayla Phillips and Cheyenne Gentles.

The goal of the work is to create a body of research that covers various aspects or themes in law and to make that research available to Secwépemc communities to utilize to create tools, draft laws, protocols, and other components that assist with decision-making and governance in the modern world. The Secwépemc research team are actively researching stseptékwll (oral tellings) and slexéy̓em (historical accounts), collectively referred to as tellings, as well as considering other elements and sources of Secwépemc law, such as ceremony, dance, songs and landmarks.

The Secwépemc research team hosts gatherings where Secwépemc participants are invited to learn the collected tellings and retell them in their own words in a fun, interactive way. The tellings are then considered from a high-level perspective, asking a simple question, “What is this telling teaching us?” In more detail, the Secwépemc participants are then supported by the team to deep dive into a case brief methodology, that is a structured approach to dissecting the telling into different components for the purposes of learning more details of its teachings.

The Secwépemc research team then works with Secwépemc participants on the analysis of the tellings, interpretations and teachings. That analysis forms the basis of a research report which will be made available to Secwépemc Nation members as a reference tool for creating other products, such as laws, protocols, agreements, policy, procedures, and other governance tools that are required in modern day to day society.