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REMEMBERING SOPHIE THOMAS AND MARY JOHN P. 1, 4, 5 FRASER LAKE SAWMILL CELEBRATES 60 YEARS P. 7
E xpress OMINECA
Publications Mail Contract # 40007840 Published by Black Press Ltd., 150 West Columbia Street, Vanderhoof, BC
$1.30 Inc. GST Vol. 38 No. 29
Hospital honours Saik’uz elders
Serving Vanderhoof ● Fort Fraser ● Fraser Lake & Area www.ominecaexpress.com
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Produced in Vanderhoof: celebration attracts crowds to community garden
Vivian Chui Omineca Express A stroll in the hallways of Vanderhoof’s hospital will now give visitors and staff alike the opportunity to learn, if not remember, the long-standing contributions of two notable local First Nation elders in healing. To an audience of more than 50 community members and family, the portraits of Mary John and Sophie Thomas were ceremoniously hung in the main hallway of St. John Hospital last Friday. As part of the hospital’s Hallways of Healing project to honour past physicians, the two Saik’uz elders’ portraits were hung first not only to acknowledge the hospital’s location on traditional Saik’uz territory, but also to recognize their contribution to the community, as well as their cultural impact on both aboriginal and non-aboriginal health care, said April Hughes, Northern Health’s Health Services Administrator for the Omineca District. “They are traditional healers, incredible role models for the entire community — First Nations and non-First Nations — [in regards to] compassion around healing and caring for the environment, caring for each other, the land, the animals,” Hughes said. “They are emblematic of all aspects of healing and compassion.” See RESEARCH, page 4
VIVIAN CHUI photo
“That,” said Andrew Beuzer, introducing a tray of apple crisp, “is made from that,” as he held up a Vanderhoof-grown apple at the Harvest Celebration in the Vanderhoof Community Garden on Sept. 9. See HARVEST FEAST on page 16
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