Secwépemc youth taking the reins as Skú7pecen’s Journey Director for Qwelmínte Secwépemc

“I think the cultural identity question is pretty empowering in some ways. To be Secwépemc youth, trusted in the environment that we are, to lead the conversation, it comes from a place of humility and it comes from a place of respect for the knowledge youth hold,” he explains. “It also reflects the belief that my communities, the communities I work for have, in youth taking the reins.”

An ideology Qwelmínte Secwépemc reiterates is that of ‘Walking on Two Legs,’ referring to work that both upholds Western laws and science, as well as Secwépemc Laws. Lampreau says he took an interest in guiding policy creation as a way to prevent further decline in ecosystem health, wildlife populations, and to keep Indigenous voices heard.

“My territory on my father’s side (Simpcwemc) is significantly influenced by forest activity, and so is my mother’s (Nesklonlith), so having spent several years out on the land, hunting, spending time with elders, gathering cultural resources, it’s pretty apparent what’s going on in a visual sense alone.”

Skú7pecen means ‘porcupine’ in Secwepemctsín, and as the Skú7pecen’s Journey Director, Lampreau leads the Qwelmínte Secwépemc team into regular discussions with the province.

“The Secwépemc signatories that I work for are currently plagued by the overdevelopment of resource roads and overextraction of natural resources. I understand we are a natural resource economy, but that economy shouldn’t come at the damage it has.” he says, noting that there are ways to transition into better resource management practices with respect to who could be affected.

“Making sure that we’re inclusive in how we design system change and that we’re considerate in how we communicate it to best address that unease or anxiety that might occur when people’s livelihoods are discussed and influenced.”

Lampreau describes feeling a ‘tremendous’ amount of responsibility with working to secure change at that scale. And those meetings aren’t always comfortable.

“There’s no handbook on how to reconcile,” he reiterates. “There’s no easy pathway to it. It takes creative, strategic, thinking. It takes challenging comfort zones of yourself or others, and of systems of government that haven’t been challenged before.”

Lampreau says the significance of working on reconciliatory land and wildlife policies out of a building once used as the Kamloops Indian Residential School isn’t lost on him.

“I come to work every day, I walk past the monument that acknowledges survivors of the residential school. Both of my family names are on it. And that tells me that the space I’m entering was once used for very alternate reasons than it is now,” he says. “(Now) our office is often full of laughter. And to recreate this space, to make it what we do is an incredible honour.”

Advocating for policy changes and bringing cultural identity into the office isn’t easy work. But Lampreau’s ‘why’ aligns with the stories of Skú7pecen serving others.

“Understanding that benefits don’t need to be for Skú7pecen, for porcupine. That when others heal and benefit from hard work, that’s hard work that’s worthwhile,” he adds.

by Dylana Kneeshaw

Secwépemc youth taking the reins as Skú7pecen’s Journey Director for Qwelmínte Secwépemc

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