Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN) broke ground on Thursday, May 8 at the Coyote Rock division for a new Indigenous-led child and family services building on their territory.
Together with Knucwentwecw Society and Thibodeau Architecture + Design, the nation celebrated the project for the role it will play towards healing and reconciliation as well as the contribution it will make to the local economy.
“This building is a significant milestone in the healing of not only our community but Indigenous peoples in the region,” said Kúkwpi7 Willie Sellars in an interview with the Tribune. “(It) also is another example of what other communities can have, should have and what they should be striving for as well.”
Expected to open in Fall 2026, the centre will be operated by Knucwentwecw Society, offering child safety services, hosting workshops and cultural events and providing a space for families to come together and support each other. The venue will allow children and families to reconnect with their heritage, with a smudging room as a space to pray and reflect and a commercial-grade kitchen where traditional food practices can be passed on.
“It’s about how we hold up that next generation and future generations,” Sellars said as he recognized the hard work of previous leaders whose vision led to this moment.
“We always wanted a building here on reserve...coming home, being home, that is what they always wanted,” Sellars said, explaining that community members have been expressing a need for culturally appropriate services on their own land.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Arlene Adie, executive director of Knucwentwecw Society, acknowledged the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations for their work towards equality for Indigenous children. She said the organizations’ 2007 human rights complaint, alleging child welfare services were flawed, inequitable and discriminatory, paved the way for this project.
In 2021, the Canadian Human Rights Commission ordered the federal government to provide funding for construction of spaces to offer First Nation child and family services.
Conversations for the Knucwentwecw Society began in March 2022 and an application for funding was submitted in April 2023.
Adie also acknowledged Linda Hillegeist, the society’s director of operations, and Lynn Gilbert, the board’s vice president, for their work on the project.
The project is estimated to cost $15 million, with 91 per cent of the bids awarded to local contractors. The building boasts a modern design with the intent of creating a welcoming, stress-free environment for guests. The building itself will also be an example of environmental stewardship, built with sustainable materials and using solar and geothermal energy sources.
“The building will be self-sustaining and, in a way, will actually be putting more energy back into the system afterwards,” said Robert Thibodeau, an architect and the president of Thibodeau Architecture + Design.
“It really is the gateway to Williams Lake,” said Sellars, explaining his vision of the Coyote Rock subdivision as a thriving commercial and communal greeting to travellers arriving to the area. “This is the benchmark that we are setting...that’s what we want to see across the board in the development.”
Opening the ceremony in a culturally appropriate way, WLFN elder Virginia Gilbert shared a prayer, and children from WLFN’s Little Chiefs primary school and daycare brought their drums and walked the area; a tangible reminder, said Adie, of what the project stands for.
