A key figure in the preservation of shíshálh language and culture has died.
Respected elder Anne Quinn (sempatkwa, sonee) passed away peacefully surrounded by family in the early morning of Jan. 14 in Sechelt. She was 84.
“The Nation has lost a pioneer in our language program and within our community,” Chief Warren Paull said in a statement. “Anne was instrumental from the beginning until recently in all aspects of our language program. She will be greatly missed by the Nation and we are sending the Quinn, Jeffries and Baptiste families our condolences and love.”
A short biographical tribute prepared by her family touches on Anne Quinn’s many honours and her accomplishments as an educator, band councillor, archivist, researcher, keeper of traditions, and beloved matriarch.
Born in Deserted Bay on Jervis Inlet in the shíshálh Nation village of tsunay on April 19, 1934, Quinn was the second of seven children and “raised with strong shíshálh cultural values,” the family wrote.
“Prior to attending the Sechelt St. Augustine Indian Residential School at the age of seven, Anne spoke only shashishalhem. Anne graduated high school at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. She was proud to have learned English and was one of the first from our community to graduate. Although Anne seldom spoke of the loneliness and trauma of residential school, her experiences shaped her determination in furthering her education and becoming an influential member of the shíshálh people.
“In the late 1970s she worked as the shíshálh education coordinator and was instrumental in establishing the Native Environmental School in tsunay. She was a band councillor from 1981-83 and helped lay the foundation for the Nation achieving self-government. Anne was passionate about the preservation of her shíshálh language and worked with the shíshálh Elders Language Group and linguist Ron Beaumont for more than 40 years. Additionally she worked with a team to successfully gain accreditation of the shashishalhem language program within the K-12 provincial curriculum. She was recognized for her efforts with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee award in 2002. Anne was honoured with a lifetime achievement award by the Nation in 2013 for her many years of research and recording of language, stories, history and culture.
“In addition to her work in education she was a researcher and archivist. She was diligent in collecting all of the pieces of shíshálh Nation history. Anne initiated the documenting of family lineage and ancestral names. She took great pride in planning the Jeffries Memorial and Ancestral Naming Potlatch with her sister Theresa Jeffries. During this potlatch ancestral names were passed on to family members and a memorial tribute was performed for their mother Sarah Baptise and grandmother Mary Anne Jeffries (Molly ?án).
“Anne was a devoted mother of seven children. She instilled in them a sense of culture and community by teaching them traditional values and a strong work ethic. Her proudest achievement was her grandchildren acquiring university degrees in law and business and certificates in the trades. She was honoured by her family in 2017 with a traditional ceremony – iy t’e titiwshamstumulh (you taught us well).”
The family concluded, “We will be forever grateful for her knowledge that she passed on to ensure that the family and Nation’s genealogy and history were documented for future generations and for her love of the community.”
Andrew Peacock, a former colleague, described Quinn as “a most generous and sharing soul, who delighted in helping students and researchers” when they came to her with their questions.
“For Anne, shíshálh culture, language and history were matters of the soul,” Peacock said.
A Celebration of Life for Anne Quinn is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 at shíshálh Nation Hall.
