For most of the year the Secwépemc people would go in groups of family to gather, fish, and hunt. The c7ístkten̓ (winter home) was a place where families stayed sheltered together in the colder months and shared resources, stories, songs, and warmth. Smaller c7es7ístkten̓ (winter homes, plural) were better for preserving heat while the larger c7es7ístkten̓ were used for meetings, gatherings, storytelling, singing and ceremonies.
C7es7ístkten̓ were built with the lower entrance facing towards the water. This is where the women, children, and Elders would enter and exit from, as seen in the mural with the Elder returning from the outside through this entrance. The men’s entrance was the ladder in the middle which usually had the animal spirit helper of the head of the family carved into it. Men were the only ones to use this ladder as it entered and exited out through the top and a woman standing over a man or an Elder would be perceived as disrespectful. The men's entrance was also used to lower game into the c7ístkten̓.
The blooming of skwenkwínem (spring beauty or wild potatoes, singular and plural) signaled the time to leave the c7ístkten̓. The door of the women's entrance would be burned while the men's entrance would be left open for air flow.
If a family member passed away during the winter and the ground was too frozen to bury them, they could be buried in the walls of the c7ístkten̓. Then, when spring came and it was time to leave, the c7ístkten̓ would be collapsed, a marker would be put up to acknowledge them, and it would not be used again the next year.
When it was time to move back in, juniper would be burned to disinfect and preserve the structure as well as run out any little critters or insects. To show this in the mural, the woman near the fire is burning juniper.
Outside of the c7ístkten̓, more meanings have been put into the mural here and there. The hare and fox are two animals associated with the traditional story of how the Chinook wind was brought back for the people, and the red willow and the young golden eagle with its spotted tail feathers are important in Secwépemc culture.
This piece is intended to give a feeling of warmth and togetherness, through a Secwépemc lens. In anything we do we as Secwépemc people we are always close to our grandmother earth, and the c7ístkten̓ – a safe place of warmth and comfort – lets us live within our connection to her and keep our connections with each other strong.
