The Waceya M茅tis Society has opened an office in Cloverdale.

Pronounced Wha-chee-ah, the society鈥檚 new office will serve people living in 91原创, Surrey, Delta and White Rock.

President Kelly Sears said everyone at Waceya is excited to actually have a bricks and mortar place to plonk down in. Up until now, the group had been operating remotely, reaching out to offer programs in various ways.

鈥淭his is our first office, so we鈥檙e so excited to finally have a place,鈥� said Sears, smiling. 鈥淣ow we can serve the people better.鈥�

Waceya had served M茅tis from the greater 91原创 area, but Sears said the new centre will serve all M茅tis in the region.

鈥淭his is an office that we鈥檒l share with Surrey, White Rock, and Delta,鈥� explained Sears. 鈥淲e picked Cloverdale because it鈥檚 central for everyone.鈥�

Sears said while the location is an office, it鈥檚 so much more. It鈥檚 also a community centre where M茅tis people can come together and learn about their culture and learn cultural practices, such as beadwork and other things.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to teach people how to do traditional craftwork, we鈥檙e going to teach beading, we鈥檙e going to teach jigging, teach M茅tis fiddle鈥攁ll sorts of M茅tis artwork鈥攁nd we鈥檙e going to teach M茅tis history. That鈥檚 the most important.鈥�

Sears said the centre is also open to non-M茅tis. She鈥檚 hoping everyone will pop in and grab a pamphlet, have a chat or coffee, and learn about M茅tis people and their history.

鈥淲e鈥檙e open to everyone,鈥� she said.

鈥淚n many ways, we鈥檙e a forgotten people. We have deep history and it鈥檚 very interesting.鈥�

Sears said some people have heard about Louis Riel, but she鈥檚 encountered many people that don鈥檛 know about M茅tis people at all.

She added the main goal of the new office is that it becomes a learning centre that passes on M茅tis culture to the next generation of children.

Sears said it鈥檚 an uphill battle.

鈥淎 lot of M茅tis people haven鈥檛 grown up with M茅tis culture. We want to change that.鈥�

Sears said they鈥檒l start offering programs in January, and they have a few scheduled already, but they really want to hear from people about what they are interested in. As such, Waceya is hosting a get together on Dec. 22 in an effort to reach out to the community.

鈥淲e want to get input from everyone to see what they want us to do,鈥� she explained. 鈥淲hile we run it, it鈥檚 their place. This is for the M茅tis people.鈥�

The open house on Dec. 22 begins at 6:30 p.m.

The Waceya M茅tis Society鈥檚 new office is located 5631a 176A Street in Cloverdale. The office is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sears said once the Surrey M茅tis group joins, in about three months, the office will be open full time.

Visit for more info.

editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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