Near the end of 2021, CLBC’s Indigenous Relations team set out to build an Elders Advisory to be able to engage with the wisdom and knowledge Indigenous Elders hold.
The Elders Advisory’s role is to offer perspective and guidance into what’s culturally appropriate when developing policies, programs, and trainings.
What is an Elder?
Elders are respected people within Indigenous communities that are knowledge keepers and wisdom holders. They work to keep Indigenous culture alive through passing on traditions, guidance, and teachings to those in their communities.
The Advisory is made up of six Elders who represent five First Nation communities from around British Columbia.
- Eugene Harry, Cowichan Tribes, resides in Squamish
- Gwen Campbell MacArthur, Métis
- Linus Lucas, Nuu-Chan-Nulth, Port Alberni
- Ruth Hetu, Saulteau First Nation, Moberly Lake
- Cheryl Schweizer, Métis
- Gerry Ambers, Nuu-Chan-Nulth, resides in Victoria
They have been meeting monthly since September. They are also called upon for consultations with CLBC staff who are working with individuals receiving our funded services.
Elders hold a lot of cultural knowledge in communities where culture had the potential to be forgotten or misplaced because of the harm done by colonization. The cultural perspective provided by the Elders Advisory helps ground the work that CLBC does in a culturally informed way.
Cultural safety is one of CLBC’s core values, as outlined in the new Strategic Plan. For our organization, it means:
- All people feel spiritually, socially, emotionally, and physically safe when interacting with us
- We are aware of our own cultural beliefs and identities and recognize that we have much to learn.
- We strive to reflect the diversity of B.C. in our workforce.
- We support people to draw strengths from their identity, culture, and community.
- We acknowledge that only each person can determine if they feel safe.
“Elders keep us grounded when it’s easy to get caught up in the work, the expectations to achieve and the goals of it all, says Jody Bauche, Cultural Safety Coordinator who helps coordinate the Elders’ Advisory” Elders help us remember our spirit. And when we’re talking about cultural safety, we’re talking about people feeling emotionally, psychologically, physically, and spiritually safe.”
For cultural safety to exist within an organization, people at all levels need first understand the complexity of Indigenous history and culture to become more culturally aware. Engaging with these learnings with cultural humility and curiosity will help us shift practice and ultimately create safety for Indigenous people using and interacting with our services. This is practicing with cultural sensitivity. Cultural safety comes when the knowledge, action, and engagement become embedded into organizational culture and practice to the point where all people feel safe.
