Ts’iyenï Kwin Ghineendïl (Everyone Came Back To The Fire)

Ts’iyenï Kwin Ghineendïl (Everyone Came Back To The Fire)

Indigenous peoples

Kristen Walker

Sarah Panofsky

2024

The University of British Columbia

Dissertation

English

British Columbia

Open Access

This research renews and articulates distinctly Witsuwit’en approaches to caring for vulnerable children and families, helping facilitate Witsuwit’en jurisdiction over child welfare. In collaboration with the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, this project was carried out with a research circle of hereditary chiefs, frontline workers, and social services leaders from the Witsuwit’en Nation. We followed from Indigenous methodologies and Indigenous Storywork and held sharing circles for data collection. Interpretation was collaborative and the themes are represented in the voices of the participants themselves. This research found that caring for vulnerable children and families in a Witsuwit’en way relies on ts’iyenï kwin ghineendïl (everyone coming back to the fire). This is a homecoming to yintah (land), wiggüs (respect), hereditary system, niwhkinic (our language), and social responsibility. Coming back to the fire rests upon Witsuwit’en laws and the wisdom of the ancestors who have come before. The challenges confronting the Witsuwit’en Nation stem from the intergenerational impacts of colonization that resulted in a disconnect from Witsuwit’en lands and people. Consequently, repair must lie in reconnection to Witsuwit’en ways of knowing, being, and doing. The work happening today towards mobilizing Witsuwit’en jurisdiction over child welfare is for future generations. This research has attempted to expand upon the nascent literature regarding how Indigenous communities are approaching intergenerational trauma through cultural models of health and healing, as well as meeting the need for decolonizing and Indigenous methodologies that target community needs and strengths. This study provides a local analysis of a cultural approach to Indigenous healing and may offer themes and learning that can be transferable to other Indigenous communities in Canada and beyond.