The land that makes up Sun Peaks is located 45 minutes northeast of Kamloops, nestled at the end of a valley and surrounded by three mountains: Tod, Sundance, and Morrisey. It boasts Canada's second largest terrain for skiing and snowboarding, drawing flocks of people from all around the world seeking the beauty and thrill that lies here. This amazing pocket of terrain is included in the vast traditional territory of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, members of the Interior-Salish Secwepemc (pronounced suh-Wep-muhc) speaking peoples of British Columbia.

Historically, the Tk’emlúps people were semi-nomadic, traveling throughout their territory to follow the abundant resources. In the winters, when the nights are long and cold, they were temporarily still, living with families and friends in villages of pit houses. Throughout much of the rest of the year, they moved across the land after the abundant resources. From generations of knowledge passed down, they know how to harvest, fish, hunt, and forage in a way that didn’t abuse the natural environment of their traditional territory, but respected and ensured its survival.

Through thousands of years of learning from and subsisting off of the land, they cultivated a unique and self-sufficient culture. They provided for themselves by fishing, gathering, hunting, and foraging, and their intricate knowledge of the plants, foods, and medicines around them. This complex system of knowledge was passed down the generations through oral histories, songs, dances, and encoded in their very language.

Today, the community operates within an intricate governing system based on traditional knowledge and cultural laws and protocols. The Tk’emlúps people lead a strong and active Indigenous government with a purpose to foster understanding among community members and the wider public, while affirming their longstanding cultural identity and advocating for self-empowerment. You may remember Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc as the community that used ground penetrating radar to determine the existence of hundreds of unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in 2021. This ongoing history requires deep intergenerational and cross-cultural healing.

Among many other initiatives and programs, language revitalization is an important goal. The Tk’emlúps government encourages the community to speak their language, Secwepemctsín, daily, passing it on to the next generation. Within Secwepemctsin, as with many Indigenous languages, lies the knowledge of generations, including history, environment and spirituality. Language revitalization is crucial in the healing process, as languages are inseparable from culture. Check out their accessible and welcoming website to learn more about the people of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, learn some Secwepemctsín, and to see upcoming events.