pee Py Terrace Review — _ Wednesday, September 7, 1988 IS New community counselling and healing center -now open to serve needs of Northwest A number of Terrace residents joined about 150 others in cele- ‘brating the opening of the Wilp Si’Satxw community healing center in Kitwanga, August 27. by Charlynn Toews Dr. David Bowering said the center is “‘really fantastic. It’s the direction we need to go into, providing both individual and community healing.’’ The center offers a unique program for recovery from alcohol and drug addiction, where both tradi- tional native culture and modern medical techniques are used to support the process of healing. “It’s a place apart, providing the environment for that pro- cess,’’ Bowering said. He added that the center is similar to a treatment center in Tlell on the Queen Charlotte Islands which he directed. The . Tlell treatment center also relied. on traditional native healing techniques as well as drawing on many community resources from the area. Mary Bowering, a community worker interested in the process of recovery and in native cul- ture, was impressed with the fact that many native and non-native people worked together to establish the center. ‘‘There was a feeling of cooperation and fruition at the opening. The residence is a very beautiful building high on a hill, over- looking the river.’? She said a second building is for ad- ministration and counselling. It’s in a longhouse design. The poles inside are carved, and there will be a sunken area for counselling sessions.”” ' Terrace resident. Valerie Propane division renamed The propane division of Mohawk Oil Co, is getting its own identity. In a news release last week the president and chief executive of- ficer of Mohawk Propane Ltd. announced that his operation is being called Premier Propane Inc. effective Sept. 1. Ron McLaughlin noted that the pro- pane division of Mohawk, established in 1977, came under separate ownership in October of last year, and the name change is part of their efforts to. help the public perceive them as a distinct corporate entity. ' Premier Propane is based in Edmonton and has 30 outlets in B.C. and Alberta, as well as auto fuel dispensing stations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The company’s Terrace outlet operates in conjunction with a Mohawk gas bar and conven- ience store at the corner of Eby - St, and Lakelse Ave. “Growth through market in- novations and customer satisfac- tion have played an important role in the company’s history and will continue to play a cen- ‘tral role in Premier’s future,’’ ’ McLaughlin stated. Burgess also attended the open- ing. She’ll be teaching a-course this fall in NWCC’s Addiction Worker Program in Hazelton. She said, ‘It’s wonderful to have a treatment facility here in the Northwest, one that reflects the culture in this. part of the province.”? Some people, she said, will feel more comfortable closer to home instead of travell- ing far away from family. The center: will make use of the wisdom of elders, and link the generations. ~ The healing center also pro- vides.an example or message of hope for the community, Bur-. gess says. “‘It’s a symbol of the effort of natives to work with “non-natives, but with natives carving out their own future.” Wilp Si’Satxw program direc- tor Kathy Ives explained that the self-healing philosophy gives more responsibility to the client in the healing process, and that healing and growth is a life-long endeavor. ‘‘People know what they have to do, they have the awareness within them. It’s a matter of making the choice to do something, and having sup- port.”’ The healing center is one step in the process. The clients are ex- pected to complete at least two months of counselling (whether from an alcohol and drug counselior, elder, social worker, or. minister) and be completely de-toxed. ‘‘It’s im- portant for people to be pre- pared to start working, ready to ‘receive information, and to know. what some of the expecta- tions for healing are.”’ The six-week residential pro- gram will start in January, when the second building is complete and all staff positions have been filled. Sixteen facilitators or ‘shealing partners’’ will work with 16 clients — either native or non-native — drawn from the Northwest area. The idea for a _ locally- developed center started in the - 1970s, after a national native alcohol and drug abuse program was held in the area. Support residents groups, a society, anda feasibil- ty study followed, resulting in a program developed to suit the requirements of the northwest. Funding has come from Health and Welfare Canada, the First Citizens Fund, and local fund- raising activities. The opening celebrations end- . ed Saturday with a feast and dancing. The potlatch included the Wilp Si’ Satxw board giving out gifts of food and art prints - to the participants, and special gifts to chiefs, funders, and past board members — all of whom can feel proud for their part in creating the center. ““There was real feeling of everyone working together,’? Mary Bowering said.