Kackaamin Family Development Centre is an Indigenous organization that offers a
family treatment program in Port Alberni, BC. I chose to create a spoken letter to Kackaamin Family Development Centre because it is an integral part of healing for the families and community of Port Alberni, among many others throughout Canada. My family members, friends and peers have all used Kackaamin’s services and I have personally heard about the loving and positive healing journeys. I chose to use video shots of the outdoors to highlight our connection to the natural environment and give thanks to the traditional territories of the Hupacasath and Tseshaht First Nations that I stand and live on. The opening of the spoken letter is one of Julie’s (a staff member at Kackaamin FDC) daily prayers that was publicly posted on Kackaamin’s Facebook support page. I chose to use her prayer because it is genuine and spoke to all people. Sonya Braxton’s poem “Butterfly Rising” was chosen as a reflection of Indigenous people’s resilience and toughness as they continue on their healing and recovery journey at Kackaamin Family Development Centre. Kackaamin means “butterfly” in Nuu-chah-nulth language, and represents “transformation”. The picture of the butterfly in the video is Kackaamin Family Development Centre’s logo. I wanted to communicate the butterfly pieces as the central part of the video to feature Kackaamin Family Development Centre’s theme of Indigenous families transformations, journeys and emergence.
*Anonymous