The Village of Sik-e-dakh (Glen Vowell) welcomed neighbors of the Gitxsan territory to witness the grand opening of the brand new longhouse as a part of this year’s National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations.
The idea for the longhouse came forward in October 2019 when the Gitxsan Child and Family Services saw a need for children in the village. The official ground breaking for the longhouse took place on May 2, 2022, according to Velma Sutherland, band administrator for Sik-E-Dakh.
The initial cost projection, according to Sutherland, was around $6 million, but due to inflation and rising costs, the total cost in the end was $7.5 million dollars. BC Housing donated $5 million towards the longhouse at the beginning of the project.
At the June 21 grand opening, Barb Hudson, a Sik-e-dakh representative for the project, gave a speech about how it takes a “village” to raise a child: with many children and young adults who age out of the youth in care system feeling lost and alone, the plan was to bring them back to home soil to be among the people and elders of the Gitxsan village.
The longhouse is in the middle of the village and will be run by members of the Gitxsan Nation, and it includes six bed rooms units for children in care; six studio rooms with laundry facilities on site for young adults that are to age out of the system; and three triplexes for women with children and families.
Listen to the story by CFNR below:
