Marcella Sunshine, a UFV Political Science and Indigenous Peoples Knowledge student, is a provincial leader for the Visionary Youth Peers for Equity and Revitalization (VYPER), a B.C. wide Indigenous cultural revitalization initiative. I got the opportunity to sit down with Sunshine and hear more about her life and work with VYPER.
Founded for youth, by youth, this organization is working to empower young Indigenous people with the skills to share their cultural knowledge in local communities across the province. According to VYPER’s website, their vision is “a world where Indigenous youth feel connected to and empowered by their ancestral roots; where all Indigenous young people across Turtle Island are equipped to take action towards the resurgence and preservation of their Nations’ traditions.”
VYPER consistently hosts local events like powwows and cultural nights to engage members of the community. These events are dense with activities and celebration. “It’s open to anybody to come and learn,” said Sunshine, who explained that they serve a catered dinner at their monthly Cultural Nights for guests to enjoy. “Our biggest goal is to make sure people feel welcomed and like they have a spot with us, because they do.”
VYPER also holds space non-Indigenous folks to take part in the culture. “We have intertribals: that’s where anybody can come out and dance. You don’t need to be Indigenous; you can be from anywhere.”
Sunshine is a passionate advocate for VYPER’s mission of educating Indigenous and non-Indigenous attendees. “For Indigenous kids who are coming, we like to give them regalia, and what we call ribbon skirts and ribbon shirts, and just reasons to be proud and create a community — because there hasn’t been good education in many provinces within the Canadian context on First Nations, Métis and Inuit presence.”
VYPER has been hosting events like these since 2020. In those early days, Sunshine sought the help of experienced powwow planner and champion dancer, Gary Abbott. Her team; at the time called Valley Youth Peers for Overdose Response, hosted their first powwow in Mission on the grounds of St. Mary’s Residential School, which closed its doors in 1984. “We hosted our first powwow, and we found out the coolest thing ever — that Mission Powwow was once the biggest powwow in British Columbia for over 20 years — from the 1980s up until the early 2000s.”
“Kamloops is hosting the biggest one now,” said Sunshine, “but we hosted a pretty good powwow. We fed the people. It wasn’t until we were actually at the powwow that me and all my friends were like, ‘Wow, this is the most beautiful, most powerful cultural experience we’ve ever had.’”
“We actually stayed on the grounds after the event ended and we just kept dancing and singing and we were like, ‘we want to do this forever and ever and ever.’” VYPER has only gotten more experienced and better organized since then. According to Sunshine, last year’s annual Reclaiming Youth Powwow saw over five thousand people attend. “We want to make sure that every young Indigenous person across Turtle Island feels what we felt over those few days.”
VYPER appears to be stronger than ever, and is demonstrating just how important community leaders like Marcella Sunshine are in advocating for Indigenous cultural education. Updates on events hosted by VYPER can be found on their public Facebook group.
