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Qweqwetsin Healing Lodge Programs

Ceremony & Healing

  • Sweat lodge ceremonies every six weeks (with separate women’s and men’s lodges).

  • Healing circles, day-long gatherings, and weekend retreats guided by Elders and ceremonial leaders.

  • Culturally safe, trauma-informed healing rooted in Secwepemc traditions.

Food Forests & Healing Gardens

  • Planting a food forest and healing garden with youth and Elders.

  • Teachings on traditional medicines such as wild rose, dandelion, lavender, milkweed, and frog leaf.

  • Learning about native vs. invasive species, food sovereignty, and ecological restoration.

  • Nature-based therapy and cultural connection through land.

Counselling & Mentorship

  • Access to counselling services that blend western practices with Indigenous healing approaches.

  • Elder-youth mentorship that strengthens identity and leadership.

  • Support for families healing from intergenerational trauma, residential school legacy, and systemic barriers.

Land BAsed SKills and Leadership

  • Youth learn traditional survival and land-based skills through multi-day cultural excursions.

  • Outdoor education that includes drumming, storytelling, harvesting, and living on the land.

  • Leadership development: youth are mentored by Elders and guides, then take on peer leadership roles.

  • Training in responsibility, cultural identity, and stewardship — preparing the next generation of Indigenous leaders.

Language, Healing Garden & Stewardship Program
Qweqwetsin Family & Healing Lodge Society (Q Healing) is honoured to lead Healing the Next Generation — a land-based, trauma-informed program supporting Indigenous youth ages 12–29 through ceremony, cultural teachings, and community connection.
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Developed in response to urgent needs across Secwepemc territory, this program reconnects youth to land, language, and identity through seasonal gatherings, Elder guidance, and hands-on learning.

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✨ Core Components:

  • Sweat Lodge Ceremonies: Held monthly on Simpcw and Sunnybrae lands with full cultural support and talking circles.

  • Land-Based Healing: Youth  and families will plant and care for a food forest, orchard, and medicine garden while learning about sacred plants like sage, wild rose, and frog leaf.

  • Talking Circles & Mentorship: Sharing circles at each session build emotional safety, trust, and connection.

  • Weekend Camps & Immersions: Two extended on-the-land intensives include drumming, storytelling, survival skills, and more.

  • Secwepemc Language Learning: Language is integrated throughout — through songs, games, signage, and ceremony.

  • Holistic Healing Supports: Trauma-informed guidance and mentorship available to all youth.

  • Life Skills & Leadership: Practical workshops and junior leadership opportunities prepare youth for future roles.

 

Locations: Simpcw (Matthew family land), Skwlax (Sky Blue Resort), and urban Kamloops.

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➡️ Apply here: https://forms.gle/1utknN34y8X2HYvR8


🕒 Deadline: Ongoing Intake!

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Tentative Schedule:

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Year One Program Schedule – 2026

Q Healing Healing Garden and Food Forest

Programming is intentionally paced at one intensive weekend approximately every three weeks, ensuring accessibility for Elders, families, and youth while allowing teachings to unfold in relationship with the land and seasonal cycles.

Sweat lodge ceremonies will be held in alignment with major program weekends and seasonal teachings, guided by Elders and ceremonial leaders.

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Location at Simpcw First Nation 6439 Dunn Lake Road, Barriere, BC V0E 1E0, 2 minutes after the baseball field on the left hand side.

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March | Opening and Grounding (Postponed to May 1-3)
March 20–22, 2026

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April | Medicines and Soil - Opening & Grounding

April 10–12, 2026 (Simpcw First Nation)

  • Pipe Ceremony

  • Teaching about Pipe Ceremony and Tobacco

  • Wild Rose medicine teachings

  • Composting and soil building

  • Raised bed construction

  • Drumming

  • Language training

 
May | Planting and Food Sovereignty

May 2, 2026 Sweatlodge Building & Knowledge Sharing (Simpcw First Nation)

  • Secwepemc Teachings & Sweat Lodge Build | 10 AM – Full Day

  • Join us for a full day of land-based learning, ceremony, and community at the farm in Simpcw territory. Guided by Felix Arnouse and Oliver Arnouse, with Firekeeper Danny Ford, participants will learn how to build a sweat lodge, receive teachings on lodge protocols, firekeeping, sage and tobacco, take part in a language lesson and Pipe Ceremony, and those staying for the full day may join the opening sweat lodge.

  • This gathering brings together culture and language, healing, ceremony, and relationship with the land in a hands-on learning space grounded in respect.

  • Bring chair, water bottle, clothing for sweat (long skirt and t-shirt for women, swim trunks for men), any cultural item you may want.

  • Open for all Indigenous and non-Indigenous

  • RSVP required info@qhealing.ca

May 14, 2026 Organic Gardening Workshop with Uncle Freddy (Fred Fortier, Simpcw First Nation)

  • Time: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
    with Fred Fortier (Uncle Freddy), Simpcw First Nation

  • Join us for a hands-on day of organic gardening teachings at the farm with Uncle Freddy, sharing practical knowledge for growing food in good relationship with the land. This workshop will explore soil health, composting, irrigation, interplanting, organic fertility, pest management, and seasonal garden care.

  • Whether you are planting your first garden or expanding an existing one, this workshop is for families, growers, and anyone wanting to deepen food sovereignty skills.

  • Please bring: water bottle, chair, comfortable clothes to work in, hat, and sunscreen.
    Lunch provided.

  • Participants are invited to reflect before coming:
    What are you planting this year, and do you have your garden space ready?

  • RSVP info@qhealing.ca

 
June | Language and Ceremony Immersion

June 27-28, 2026 (Moved from the 12th due to Sun Dance)

  • Language camp (Sky Blue / Skwlax or Simpcw)

  • Solstice teachings

  • Plant spirit relationships

  • Medicine Teaching

  • Three Sisters planting

 
July | Food Systems and Harvest

July 4, 2026

  • Berry and soapberry harvesting

  • Food preservation teachings

  • Traditional tools

  • Language Teaching

  • Medicine Teaching

  • Three Sisters planting

July 25, 2026

  • Continued harvesting and processing

  • Seasonal land care and stewardship

  • Medicine Teaching

  • Language teaching

  • Three Sisters planting

 
August | Cultural Skills and Arts

August 15, 2026

  • Drum making

  • Storytelling

  • Legacy teachings

  • Optional second language camp

 
September | Salmon and Water

September 5, 2026

  • Salmon harvesting

  • Smoking and preservation

  • River teachings

  • Medicine Teaching

  • Language Teaching

September 26, 2026

  • Continued water teachings

  • Food storage and preparation

  • Medicine Teaching

  • Language Teaching

 
October | Harvest and Closure

October 17, 2026

  • Tobacco harvest

  • Pipe teachings

  • Medicine Teaching

  • Language Teaching

  • Final feast and closing circle

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