Join the 2025 Heritage BC Conference: Me7 Elkstwéwc-kt—Working Together
An invitation from Heritage BC:
This year, Heritage BC invites you to be part of something different: the 2025 Heritage BC Conference: Me7 Elkstwéwc-kt — Working Together, taking place May 22 and 23 in Tk̓emlúps (Kamloops).
Me7 Elkstwéwc-kt means “we are working together” in Secwépemctsín—a reminder that meaningful heritage work doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s built in relationships, through respect and in shared responsibility.
This gathering marks a continuation of the intentional shift we (Heritage BC) began last year—a move away from a traditional, presentation-style conference format to a more collaborative, place-based approach that is grounded in community. It isn’t just a change in style; it’s a reflection of deeper values and a growing recognition that our sector’s most pressing questions—about sustainability, reconciliation and inclusivity—can’t be answered from a distance. They require us to be present, to listen deeply and to learn in place.
We’re hosting the 2025 conference in partnership with the Kamloops Museum and Archives and Secwépemc Museum and Heritage Park, two institutions whose work reflects what it means to care for their community through heritage. Tk̓emlúps (Kamloops) was chosen not only for its accessibility and natural beauty, but because of the layered histories and relationships it holds—between people, across time and in conversation with the land. As a site of cultural continuity, memory and both colonial harm and Indigenous resurgence, it offers a meaningful space to explore this year’s central theme: Me7 Elkstwéwc-kt — Working Together. By spending time on these lands and learning from local leaders, Elders and practitioners, we are invited into a different kind of heritage conference—one that’s participatory, respectful and centered in truth-telling and collaboration.
What does this mean for you as a heritage professional, educator, community organizer or institutional leader? It means stepping into a learning environment designed not only to inform, but to transform. Over two days, you’ll gain practical tools for co-creating heritage projects with community, strategies for deepening relationships between institutions and Indigenous partners, and ideas for reimagining how heritage work can be more sustainable and inclusive. Whether you’re coming from a museum, archives, local government or grassroots initiative, this conference offers a space to reflect, re-energize and reimagine what’s possible when we work together. You’ll leave with tangible examples, renewed partnerships and inspiration for how to shift practice in your own context—wherever that may be in the province.
Expect to:
- learn how local communities are reclaiming their histories through collaborative partnerships, with sessions led by those doing the work on the ground
- explore how emerging leaders and experienced professionals can support one another through inclusive, intergenerational dialogue and skill-building
- participate in tours and workshops that ground heritage practice in land, community and lived experience—including opportunities to engage with both settler and Secwépemc perspectives
- centre Indigenous voices in conversations about heritage conservation, truth-telling and the future of our shared histories
- build lasting relationships through shared meals, evening gatherings and facilitated opportunities for collaboration.