The Sechelt Indian Band (SIB) hall could not hold all the people who came to remember and honour Elder Theresa Jeffries during her celebration of life ceremony on Monday, March 25. Roughly 400 people packed the hall and filled outside tents to pay their respects to the esteemed Sechelt Elder.
SIB Chief Garry Feschuk said he was honoured to have been picked by Jeffries, known to most as Aunty Terry, to be the master of ceremonies for the celebration of life.
Unbeknownst to Feschuk, Jeffries had met with her niece Candace Campo about a year before to decide who would take on what role at her funeral and what the day would look like.
"She wanted it to be simple. She wanted everybody to remember her how she was, because to me she was a very rich, rich woman, and all you need to do is look out here and these are her treasures," Feschuk said. "Her treasures are sitting out in front of us today because she touched every person, every life, every path that she crossed, she left an impression with that person, an impression of love and acceptance, and when you got to know her you were a friend for life.
"It's such an honour and privilege that we see so many people here to share in the celebration of her life because that's how she wanted to be remembered."
Jeffries was born on May 6, 1931 in Sechelt, although at the time it was the First Nations territory known as Chatelech.
A member of the Eagle Clan from Tsonai in Deserted Bay, Jeffries spent much of her childhood with her parents and grandparents travelling throughout the Sechelt Nation territory, living off the land. However, once she turned seven, Jeffries was made to attend residential school, where despite the atrocities committed, she excelled.
She was the first graduate of residential school to attend and complete high school on the Coast.
"This is why she's such a remarkable lady, because of what they had to endure while going to that residential school," Feschuk said. "You hear the stories coming out about how our people were treated while attending those schools. We would not wish that upon anybody, and for her to be able to come out and be the lady that she was, that's why my hands go up to her. What a beautiful lady. In all that she had to endure, she raised her family and left all the teachings with her family, and that's why it's such a special tribute to her today."
Although she was punished for speaking her language while in residential school, Jeffries held on to the teachings, and in her senior years she became an important part of the Elder team that was responsible for compiling a dictionary of shíshálh words along with linguist Ron Beaumont.
Now that dictionary is published and available for anyone to learn the shíshálh language that was nearly lost.
It was an important accomplishment for Jeffries, who always encouraged SIB members to learn to speak in their native tongue.
She worked on that goal right up until her last day, Feschuk shared.
"Even in the last day before she left us, that evening I was sitting with her and she knew I was there, but she wouldn't speak one word of English to me, it was all in our language," Feschuk said. "I think she was giving me a message."
Family and friends remembered Jeffries as a hard worker who was always "actively employed."
Some of her jobs over the years included working 16-hour days at a cannery up north, helping job seekers at the employment centre, working for the United Native Nations as a program information officer, acting as education coordinator for the Vancouver school board, teaching the Sechelt language in local schools, serving six years on SIB council and acting as a director for the Department of Indian Affairs.
She was also renowned for her social activism on First Nations issues and was the founding member of the Urban Native Indian Education Society.
Jeffries was head of the Sechelt Elders' Society and was affiliated with the Native Brotherhood of B.C. She also sat on the B.C. Association of Non-Status Indians and is well known for her work to strike down a section of the Indian Act that stripped women of their Status if they married a non-Status man.
In 1987 she received the Golden Eagle Feather award for all the work she had done up to that point for First Nations communities.
While her professional portfolio is impressive, the things people most remember about Jeffries are her giving spirit and hard working attitude, her love of people and affinity for fashion and fine food.
It was said that you couldn't visit her home without being treated to a meal and that her door was always open for anyone who needed to talk.
Many remembered Jeffries' fine needlework. She enjoyed crocheting, knitting and embroidery.
Each year Jeffries knitted baby blankets, coats and hats for all the newborn babies in her community.
"She always had one condition. In order to get your gift, you had to bring your baby by for a visit first," Feschuk said.
She was described by her nephew Sid Quinn as a bit of a "fashionista" who always looked her best and put her best foot forward.
In fact when Jeffries was out of the hospital for a short time, her first call was to her manicurist.
While neatly pulled together at all times, Jeffries also had a little mischief in her.
"When Aunty Theresa was a little girl they said she was so mischievous that her grandparents and parents took her to North Vancouver to the Indian Shakers," Campo shared at the celebration of life. "She was very proud of that story."
Feschuk thanked all for coming to the celebration of life for Jeffries before guests took part in a feast in honour of the beloved Elder.
"Theresa would want us to be there for each other, to be strong as a community, to hold one another up and to stand for all that is. Theresa lives in all of us, and I just wanted to state that although she's gone on her spiritual journey, she's still going to be there to protect her family, to guide her family in spirit. And you have to remember one thing, that true love lasts forever," Feschuk said.
"We're not saying goodbye. It's until we meet again. And there's one thing that we have to remember, that the greatest gift that the Creator gives us is our first breath, and when it's time to return it, we have to do it graciously. And that was our Elder, she did it so graciously and she is now walking with our ancestors, walking with her family. She's gone to strengthen the roots of her family tree now, and all those teachings that she left with her family and with our community, if we could just continue a few of them, of love, respect and kindness for one another, can you imagine what a great community we would live in? If we took her teachings and just lived it to the fullest."
