Our Vision & Mission
Vision Statement in Secwepemctsin
Re Tqeltkúkwpi7 tntels ne7élye ne tmicw es yecwemínte re ќwseltktn-kt, re cќúĺten-kt, re xqweqwlúteń-kt retmicw-kt re tќwemíple7ten-kt, re stselxmém-kt, re pellsúten-kt ell re keknuctn-kt Welmé7 yews, welmé7 yews
Me7 tsyecwemínste es le7s r stsyem-kt n7élye ne tmicw,es yecwestsút-kt, es sxyestém r eḱultn-kt tikumíte7, es tselxestsút-kt ell es sxyestwécw-kt tel7éliye te pyin.
Vision Statement in English
“Our Creator placed us on this land to take care of our people, our land, our language, our customs, our knowledge, our culture, our title, to be ours forever and ever.
Ensuring that we live in a safe, healthy, self-sufficient community where cultural values and identity are consistently valued promoted and embraced by all.”
Mission Statement
To provide efficient, effective, professional Administrative and Financial services consistent with the Adams Lake Indian Band’s Vision Statement to support the Band’s organizational and governing structure for the benefit of community members.
We Are Secwépemc
Who We Are
The Secwépemc people have lived in this territory for thousands of years. Archaeological evidence in fact shows at least nine thousand (9,000) years of occupancy along the lakes and river areas. The remains of pit houses not far from our current reserves leaves us with a picture of the lives of our ancestors.
Our Elders tell us we have lived here since time immemorial. We lived based on an economy of resource extraction, including fishing, hunting, trapping and berry gathering; our ancestors prospered, grew and grew from these lands for thousands of years. The waterways and networks of trails enabled vast travel that was tied to the seasonal cycles. Similarly, we developed intricate social and political systems that remained in place for thousands of years.
Our Story
The oral traditions continue to be passed down from generation to generation through stories, crafts and ways of life. Waves of traders, missionaries, colonial administrators had a significant impact on our traditions and ways of life by influencing and indeed, outlawing many of our ways. Extensive extraction, at first focusing on beaver pelts and wildlife, then on forestry and eventually on minerals, has depleted many of our resources.
In spite of the over extraction, we have persisted and cared for our resources. By mid-19th century, the small pox epidemic and the missionizing of our people, including the taking of many of our children to residential schools, decimated our population. Once the gold rush had begun, an influx of people invaded our territory by the time it ended, farmers had their eyes on our fertile lands. We were not farmers in the sense that the Europeans understood farms and their ways conflicted with our land uses.
Stay Engaged Calendar
Join Our Dinner Club
May 19Office Closed
May 19Health and Wellness COO LUNCH
May 22Wills and Estates Workshop
May 23Bingo
May 25Master Your Budget
May 28 - May 29Wills and Estates Workshop
May 28Health and Wellness COO LUNCH
May 29