The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and the Nursing Program said goodbye and best wishes today to Ina Seitcher, Manager of Nursing, and Pearl Dorward, Aboriginal Nurse Liaison at West Coast General Hospital, upon their retirement.
There were many tears and great emotion for the women as they begin the next stage of their journey. The sisters were celebrated at a luncheon held at Hupacasath House of Gathering. Members of the Seitcher family were in attendance at the feast.
The Nuu-chah-nulth Song was sung and the nurses rose to dance and sing. Ina Seitcher told Ha-Shilth-Sa that she and her sister were truly touched by that gesture, and Ina cried during the singing.
Robert Watts and Cliff Atleo led a blessing of the blankets that NTC wrapped around the two ladies. Watts sang a prayer chant. Atleo said it was a Coast Salish tradition that put power into the blankets. If you’re down, he said, put the blanket on and it will lift the spirit. The heaviness will be lifted. He said he had personal experience of that.
Atleo said Ina and Pearl had done the Nuu-chah-nulth people proud, and he’s sure they are on a path going forward that will be calm and good and smooth.
Tribal Council President Debra Foxcroft thanked the women for their dedication and commitment. They are true role models, she said, grounded in the strength of their families and their values. Ina has been with the tribal council for 17 years and Pearl for eight.
“I wish you well on your journey,” Foxcroft said. She thanked the women’s families for sharing them with NTC.
Simon Read, director of Community and Human Services, thanked the women and said they were able to serve people who were often suffering some of the hardest times in their lives.
He said words just couldn’t do justice to the way NTC and the nursing program appreciated Ina and Pearl.
Read said Ina made the nurses feel part of a family, and they were both powerful role models for the next generation.
Community Health Nurse Francine Gascoyne spoke on behalf of the nurses saying “We know this was going to be an emotional day for us. We are all so very honored to work for Nuu-chah-nulth people.”
She said Ina and Pearl had paved the way to make it possible for Kuu-us to be working in the health field. Both women had worked for the respectful and proper treatment of Nuu-chah-nulth-aht throughout their careers. Gascoyne also commented that the women treated them like family.
She then sang the Nuxalk Simon Johnson Honor Song, and also shared the Women’s Warrior Song.
Charlotte Rampanen stood behind sisters Ina and Pearl, and said how proud she was of them. They came from a really strong family. Their father, Ian, had brought the family of 15 to Port Alberni in order for them to have a good education.
He would tell them that one day all of his children were going to go places, and when they came home they would tell him about “what’s going on out there.” He believed that there were so many possibilities for them and stressed the importance of education, helping people and family.
Ina and Pearl, said Charlotte, have so much to offer, so much to give. And Ina, particularly, would never stop speaking out. “Look out world,” said Charlotte. “Ina’s real job has just started.”
In the Nuu-chah-nulth language, Jackelyn Seitcher, LPN, thanked the ladies for helping everyone work together, for their wisdom, and for how good they made the nurses feel.
Jeanette Callahan, who has worked with the nursing team, said the women embodied the principles in the Nuu-chah-nulth nursing framework: Life is a precious journey, each life connects and each life seeks fulfillment.
Sandra Ethier in Clinical Services said she would be eternally grateful for everything they had done.
Pearl’s son Terry Dorward spoke on behalf of the Seitcher family. He said his Auntie Ina had always been the strength of the family, filling the shoes of her mother Granny Margaret quite well.
“We love you and are proud of you today,” he said.
Terry thanked Pearl for being a mother and grandmother.
“I thought every job you had was very important,” he said. Pearl came to the nursing profession later in the life and had previously sold Avon and Tupperware and worked at Smitty’s as the pancake lady, Terry said.
Avon and Tupperware “made the world a happy place,” he said, smiling. He said his mom had run with the teachings of Grandpa Ian.
He said Pearl and Ina had made all of the family proud to be Seitchers. The family then sang the Marshall Love Song while those who had gathered danced.
