An Indigenous couple on syilx homelands has completed a documentary series that details their wellness journey of decolonizing their lifestyles and embracing cultural ways of being.
Filmed between March and August 2022, Oliverius said that the project was inspired by his grandmother, a Kamloops Indian Residential School survivor who struggled with type 2 diabetes. Eating healthier, regular exercise and getting better sleep have also been part of the process. They practiced mindfulness, avoiding negative energies and overuse of technology.
“I happened to fill my time with trying to learn something new with my hands or read books,” he said. “Go for walks, exercise — when you realize you have a lot of time in the day, then you end up doing stuff that you wouldn’t normally be doing.” “When you eat things that are from the land,” Raine said, “you become a part of that interconnected system with the land.”