Cultural & Traditional Activities
Supporting the community’s connection to traditional language, art, and family involvement, cultural activities are offered throughout the year following seasonal harvest times and are designed to provide community wellness and enrichment in honor of Nlaka’pamux traditions.

Gathering of Traditional Foods
Encouraging the gathering of traditional food and medicines that include:

The importance of proper foot care:

Your feet can give an early warning about serious health problems and can develop serious foot problems as they age, which puts their health, independence, and well-being at risk.

Reasons to seek Foot care Services

You may have a health condition such as diabetes, vascular issues, auto-immune concerns, cancer, wounds, skin conditions and or:

• Have vision problems that make it difficult for you to see your feet well enough to perform your own foot care
• Have limited strength or agility in your hands
• Have involuted or ingrown nails
• Have thickened nails that are difficult to trim
• Have toenail fungus and other nail/skin conditions
• Are diabetic and therefore at a higher risk of developing foot problems due to decreased sensation to your feet
• Have poor circulation to your feet
• Have limited ability to reach your feet
• Callous, corns, bunions, hammer/claw/rigid toes
• Any changes in your feet & gait.

Meet Suzanne Marcel, Footcare Nurse (LPN)

Suzanne is a Lisenced Practical Nurse with a Bachelor of Science of Podology,with Advanced footcare training & Certified Podologist & Certified Master Pedicurist.

Heskw’en’scuxte Health Services Society has contracted a certified footcare nurse to come out to our communities every 6 weeks. Clients living in community do not need a referral. If you have any foot or nail concerns, please call our offices to book an appointment.

John Tai

Registered Massage Therapist

John Tai is a BC Registered Massage Therapist practicing in the Greater Vancouver Area and the Fraser Canyon. His area of interest is in pain management, rehabilitation, and sports. His approach to RMT can be direct and assertive in dealing with sports like injuries. He works with a gentle touch to help with healing that seeds deeper than the physical body. He has training in both Western and Eastern philosophies: mind/vipassana meditation, Yoga, Pilates, Craniosacral Therapy, Somatoemotional Release, and Visceral Manipultation. John lives a very active lifestyle that is full of travel and adventure. In 2019, he and his family relocated to the Fraser Canyon to develop their homestead and future.

Heskw’en’scutxe is pleased to have John on board two Tuesdays a month in Siska and two Tuesdays a month in Cooks Ferry. Please call the office to book an appointment. Open to all community members living on reserve.

Medication pick-up can be challenging for some community members. Access to reliable transportation or physical decline may prevent clients of getting the medication they need. Heskw’en’scutxe Health Services Society implemented a weekly medication pick on Thursday at the PharmaSave in Lillooet. If you live in the community and wish to be part of this program, simply call Carmen the pharmacist at 250.256.4262 and request for your prescription(s) to be filled there and authorize our staff to pick it up on your behalf.

The Society offers monthly shopping services to community members who do not have a reliable mode of transportation to purchase basic supplies. Cooks Ferry takes clients to Ashcroft, Merritt, or Kamloops on the last Wednesday of the month. Siska takes clients to Chilliwack, Hope, Lillooet, Merritt, or Ashcroft at the end of the month. Please contact the offices a few days ahead to book a seat.

Heskw’en’scutxe and Dr. Shivkumar from the Lytton Primary Care Center (LPCC) work together in providing clients Telehealth services. Existing clients of the LPCC can book their Telehealth medical appointments with Heskw’en’scutxe once per month. This service benefits clients as they do not need to meet the doctor in person in Lytton to review blood work or renew a prescription, for example. Our nurses accompany the clients with their Telehealth appointments.

The service is currently available at the Cooks Ferry clinic, and we hope to be offering it soon in Siska. Please check our events calendar for the next Telehealth dates or call our offices.

Telehealth is also available at Merritt’s Nicola Valley Hospital by appointment. Call our offices for more details.

Free Year-Round Swimming Passes:
Heskw’en’scutxe Health Services offers complimentary swimming and gymnasium passes to the *Nicola Valley Aquatic Centre in Merritt for community members living on and off reserve in Siska and Cooks Ferry.

*Please call one of our offices to be added to the Nicola Valley Aquatic pool’s registry lists.

Free Summer Swims:
Free swims are offered during the summer season at the Ashcroft Swimming pool for **Cook’s Ferry members living on and off reserve. Simply sign in at the pool registration desk.

Free swims also offered by Kumsheen Resort in Lytton for local community members.

**Sponsored by Cooks Ferry Social Development Department.