Home / Member News / Leadership Update: December
Waytk kwsaltklan:
We are nearing the end of 2020. We have entered the second wave of the pandemic and it will be impacting this holiday season for you and your families. I continue to ask you to follow the public health guidelines as it relates to non-essential travel and wearing of masks in public spaces. Large family gatherings are not possible at this time; gather with people you live with instead. Keep washing your hands often and use hand sanitizer in public. Physically distance yourself especially if you are around people you don’t know or live with. Continue to be safe.
I know from my own experience with self-isolation protocols that it has been very difficult on my mental health and emotional health with the loss of face-to-face contact with people. I am not on Facebook as I found that people make statements or comments that are not the truth. Those type of comments and statements send people into a state of anger that is based on lies and assumptions. I choose for my own mental and emotional health not to be on Facebook.
What I do for my sanity is to maintain contact with a small bubble of family. When I am in public I wear a mask. I am participating in virtual meetings with other chiefs and leaders in B.C. and across Canada. The biggest missing piece of the work with other chiefs, other elected leaders, and the public is networking. The joking, laughter and alliance that takes place in the informal settings of coffee, sharing a meal, and during meeting breaks supports resolution in the meeting room.
For my sanity, I have made my hands busy doing physical work around my house. I have created and fixed things that have been neglected for years as travel for meetings and business for Splatsin has taken me away from my home. I planted a garden this year which I haven’t done for years. It was a good harvest as I have potatoes, carrots, spaghetti squash, beets, swiss chard, peas, grape tomatoes, and cantaloupe. My cherry, plum and pear trees produced some good fresh fruit. I know many of you planted your own gardens and I continue to encourage you to do so again in the spring. Our old ones had gardens who produced and stored their own food for generations. This kept them alive and ensured their survival. Take time to reflect on some things you might want to do for yourself at this time and keep your mind and hands busy. I have not had the opportunity to harvest any four-legged yet, but plan to do so in the coming 60 days as the sema7 hunting season is near over. If you or your family do not have access to wild game or fish let us know and we will attempt to harvest or get access to wild game or fish for you and your family.
COVID-19 will be here for at least another 12 to 18 months. The question I am asking my staff and Council is how do we engage with people without doing face to face contact? I recognize that it’s important that we continue to publish written reports, but we need other processes that can be interactive. I also recognize that not everyone has access to the internet or has knowledge on how to use the numerous social video platforms. Many members do not have smartphones, laptops or tablets. We are in the process of creating an engagement strategy for 2021. We may need to find ways to create interactions with family heads or designates of households to share information and receive feedback. Stay tuned for details coming soon.
I ask each one of you be gentle with yourself and your loved ones in times of stress we are always hard on ourselves and our loved ones.
I am working to do a virtual ceremony and I will be informing people of the details as to how you can participate in the ceremony for yourself and your loved ones. Stay tuned.
Kukpi7 Christian