Home / Member News / Secwépemc Landmarks Media Release
March 27, 2023
Weytkp/Waytkp!
The Secwépemc Landmarks project team is honoured to announce the unveiling of the Tsqúqw7e Landmark sculpture on Saturday May 13, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. in Tsqúqw7e (Chase Memorial Park). The Tsqúqw7e Landmark was created by the late Mike “Savage” Peters, assisted by his son Lone White Wolf Peters and Chaz, and completed by Shayne D. Hunt, and David Jacob Harder. All are welcome to celebrate the installation of the sculpture, which is dedicated to commemorating Mike, one of the two original artists.
Tsqúqw7e, pronounced ch-kokw-a, is the place name for the Chase Memorial Park area, meaning “a small bay” in Secwepemctsín (Secwépemc language). The sculpture is shaped in the form of a Coyote Rock, representing rock formations created by Sek̓lép, Sk̓lap, or Senxúxwlecw (Coyote), with metalwork sculpture in the shape of tree food caches, used to store dried roots and salmon. Carvings in the metalwork represent oral histories shared by the Secwépemc Elders Advisory Committee, made up of Elders from Adams Lake, Skwláx (Little Shuswap), Neskonlith, and Splatsín.
Artists who are part of this project include Tania Willard who is from and lives at Neskonlith, Kel-c Jules from Tk’emlúps, Hop You and Tony Antoine (Splatsín), Jules Arnouse (Little Shuswap), Rick (Jules’ son), Eric Kutschker, Rod Tomma, Tilkotmes Tomma, Ron Tomma, David Jacob Harder, and Vern Clemah. The Secwépemc Landmarks project will be installing 16 sculptures over the next year, designed by several teams of Secwépemc and non-Secwépemc artists, that highlight Secwépemc oral histories and place names in each area. These sculptures are proposed at the following locations: Salmon Arm wharf (Complete); Haney Heritage (May 2023); Little Mountain (June 2023); Fly Hills Skyview Rotary Lookout (July 2023); South Canoe Bluffs (August 2023); Tappen Bluffs (September 2023); Bastion Mountain (October 2023). Phase 2 locations, scheduled to be installed in 2024, are proposed at the following locations: 1) Mara Lake; 2) Sek̓máws (Sicamous); 3) Splatsín; 4) Tsutswécw Park; 5) Quaaout Lodge; 6) Skmana Lake; 7) White Lake; and 8) Steglgelxús (Chase Creek Falls).
The Secwépemc Landmarks project team is also working to install trailhead posts carved by youth from Secwépemc Child and Family Services, Shihiya, Chief Atahm, and five schools in School District No. 83, by fall 2023. These trailhead posts were carved with the guidance of Kenthen Thomas who designed the curriculum for the workshops, and from Splatsín carvers Hop You and Vern Clemah. Close to two hundred youth carved just under 100 trailhead posts, which will be installed on trail systems throughout the Shuswap Lakes region of Secwepemcúl̓ecw. Very talented artists, and expect to see their artwork out on the trails soon!
The Secwépemc Landmarks team is very grateful for the expertise and guidance of the Elders Advisory Committee and from the youth researchers working on this project, and for the financial support of Adams Lake, Little Shuswap, Neskonlith, and Splatsín, the City of Salmon Arm, the Province of British Columbia, the Shuswap Trail Alliance, Shuswap Tourism, and Heritage BC and the Heritage Legacy Fund of British Columbia.
Kukstemc, and with respect,The Secwépemc Landmarks Project Team