Home / News Releases / News Release: Splatsin to Build Elders’ Lodge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENovember 3, 2021
Secwepemcúl’ecw (Secwepemc Territory) – Splatsin elders will be getting a new facility next summer featuring independent care suites and a community gathering space. The facility, located in the Lassertie Subdivision off Enderby Grindrod Road, is expected to be completed by August 2022.
The two-building facility will feature 10 standard suites, two accessible suites, and a multi-purpose gathering space. Splatsin will also be hiring a live-in caregiver to assist elders with non-medical tasks such as lifting heavy objects and cleaning.
“Housing, and specifically housing for elders, was identified as a need in our Comprehensive Community Plan,” said Kukpi7 (Chief) Wayne Christian. “Long before Europeans moved to our land, we had our own type of dwellings known as c7istktan (pit house). Our homes were built in such a way that our people interacted with each other. In some ways, this new facility represents that — some of our elders in one area living together supporting one another.”
Christian noted that the facility will provide relief to 11 elders in need of on-reserve housing.
This is the second housing project announced by Splatsin this year. In April, the community announced a 10-unit complex which is now nearing completion.
This project is being funded by the community’s development corporation, Splatsin Development Corporation (SDC), which manages the economic interests of the Splatsin People throughout Secwepemcúl̓ecw. Profits generated through natural resource construction, forestry, environmental, archaeological, and consumer services are invested into the Splatsin Community for the collective benefit of all members.
The Splatsin people reside on reserve lands adjacent to the City of Enderby to the south and across the Shuswap River to the east, within the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwépemc, the largest Interior Salish-speaking First Nation in Canada. Their traditional territory stretches from the B.C./Alberta border near the Yellowhead Pass to the plateau west of the Fraser River, southeast to the Arrow Lakes, and the upper reaches of the Columbia River encompassing 180,000 square kilometres, 32 communities, and a population of 15,000 people. The Splatsin and Secwépemc has total jurisdiction and title to all of their people, lands, and resources and have not surrendered, ceded, or released them to the government.
###
Media Contact:
Dudley Coulter, Director of Communicationso (250) 838-6496 ext. 705c (250) 306-1541e [email protected]