Danica Murphy, of Williams Lake, uses social media to teach the Sikubimctsin language
For Danica Murphy, a language and culture teacher in Sekubimketsin, learning her traditional language changed the course of her life.
“That’s what saved my life. It gave me purpose again,” Murphy said.
Murphy began teaching SecwepemctsÃn, the area’s indigenous language, at École Nesika Elementary School in Williams Lake three years ago, and recently began posting SecwepemctsÃn videos on TikTok as a way to give students (and others interested in learning SecwepemctsÃn) more resources.
Her TikTok channel, @tnekwe7, contains videos of her speaking SecwepemctsÃn. In one lesson, she introduces basic greetings and in other lessons, she goes over the Sykobimctsin alphabet and autumn-themed plants and words.
What’s amazing is that Murphy started learning SecwepemctsÃn two years before she taught it.
Her uncle Cody William had just started teaching SecwepemctsÃn at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Williams Lake and encouraged Murphy to join his class.
“It’s amazing,” she said, noting that she only spoke English and a few words of the Chilcotin language growing up.
Her mother, Tsilhqot’in, a residential school survivor, and her father, of European descent, Murphy, grew up in Williams Lake and described being a “half-breed” as difficult, as she felt lost for a long time. At age 10, she said, she started drinking, which became scary very quickly.
When she was 14, she realized this wasn’t the life she wanted to live and committed to becoming sober. She joined an Alcoholics Anonymous group – which she felt silly attending at first, claiming she was just baking so many birthday cakes – but then she realized she wasn’t alone. Today, she has been sober for over 12 years. Of course, the journey was not that easy. She said she lost a lot of friends during the sobriety process.
In 2013, she gave birth to her first son when she was 16 and began her parenting journey, completing high school and working part-time at Walmart, which turned into full-time due to financial pressures. Despite her “severe lack of confidence,” she graduated on time as valedictorian from Skyline Alternate School in 2014 while her son attended daycare during the day. She called her valiant speech ridiculous.
“I couldn’t even touch people at that time. I couldn’t even do it, I couldn’t even look up,” she told the Tribune.
Her second son was born in 2015, and she described being a young mother as “isolating enough.” At this point, she was just alive.
“But you know, we find joy in simple moments, right? You’re creative.”
Her first daughter was born in 2017 at 33 weeks, and unfortunately only survived five hours. Just days later, her family was evacuated to Prince George to get away from the wildfires. Overwhelmed by grief, she remained focused on her children, turning “every little thing into an adventure.” Her eldest son, then four, was aware of his sister’s death and was also trying to cope.
“I wanted them to see that… your world could be burned to the ground, but as long as we have each other, we can do anything.”
During this time, she began learning the SecwepemctsÃn language and remembers her father smiling as he listened to her speak it – because he knew she had found something special. Her father died in 2019, a few days before she was to take one of her final exams.
At this point, Murphy had already left Walmart and started working at the factory doing weekend cleaning work. In 2020, just before the pandemic began, she was pregnant with her fourth child. She worked until week 30 and then stopped, which, at a slower pace, led to a lot of stress and panic surrounding her pregnancy. I reluctantly reached out to a counselor.
“It’s the devil you know, or the devil you don’t know,” she laughed.
Fortunately, seeing a counselor helped.
Her second daughter was born in 2020, and three years later, she is a happy little girl with a “best friend” at nursery. She affectionately calls her children “the wild bunch,” and she still wants more for them. She said her children also keep her grounded.
Three days a week, Murphy works for Williams Lake First Nation as a community cultural assistant, and the other two days, she teaches in Nesika.
As for Murphy, she is determined to instill confidence in her students, channeling the energy of the late Ella Gilbert who taught and inspired Murphy as a child attending Mary Sharp School.
“When I speak the language, I try to stand up straight. I speak the entire Sykobimctsin language and then I translate it, depending on where I am,” Murphy said. “I want to see the Sycubimctsin language spoken comfortably everywhere.”
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Learning a traditional language can have a powerful impact on a person’s life, and for one TikTok teacher from British Columbia, it was truly life-saving. As she delved into the study of her indigenous language, she found a sense of purpose, connection, and identity that had been missing from her life. Through her platform, she now shares her journey of cultural revival and how embracing her traditional language has brought healing and transformation. Her story serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of language preservation and the profound impact it can have on an individual’s well-being.