racy Peters is a full-time Indigenous Education Worker at Nusdeh Yoh Elementary School, a Jingle Dress dancer, singer, beader and seamstress. She is Interior Salish and a member of the Ts’kw’ aylaxw First Nation in St’at’imc Territory, located about 40 kilometres northwest of Lillooet and 70 kilometres west of Cache Creek. Peters moved to Prince George with her family roughly 35 years ago.
"My dad got transferred with BC Rail, which is now CN Rail," Peters said.
"My mom didn’t want to raise us on reserve. She was always preparing me — ‘We’re going to move, we’re going to move.’ She thought it would either be Kamloops or Chilliwack. Then she met my dad, and when he was transferred, he asked if she was going to come. She said ‘yup,’ and we literally packed what we could fit in the car and moved to Prince George."
Peters’ mother is a survivor of Kamloops Residential School.
"But I didn’t know that until I was older," Peters said. "I knew in high school, but I didn’t understand the meaning behind it. All I knew was that she was moving us to give us better education and better opportunities."
Peters attended Seymour Elementary, then King George V for a year when the family moved to the bowl area, before finishing at Duchess Park Secondary.
In Grade 7, when she went to King George V, Peters often asked her mom to iron her clothes and hem her pants.
"‘You gotta start doing this yourself,’ was the response," Peters laughed.
"So she showed me how to use her sewing machine, and I took sewing all the way through high school. I was lucky to have two amazing teachers."
In Grade 10, she asked if she could create something different from the garment everyone else was making.
"By then, I was already a dancer. My teacher was very open to me creating something else, as long as I added a zipper to my pattern, used a French seam hem, and incorporated darts and pleats. I made my own patterns, so I was able to do whatever I wanted," Peters said.
At the time, she was a Fancy Shawl dancer, performing a dance that represents a butterfly emerging from the cocoon.
As a dancer, Peters learned to bead and sew her own regalia.
"If you have the money, you can buy your own regalia, but I’ve always sewn and beaded my own — it makes it feel more personal," Peters said.
"And as soon as my children were old enough to walk, they were dancing."
For Peters, dancing represents more than just traditional Indigenous ways.
"It’s about breaking the cycle," Peters said. "I’m the first grandchild not to raise my children with drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. That’s huge for my family."
Peters said dancing was not part of the culture where she grew up and that she had to ask her grandfather’s permission to pursue her passion. He told her that as long as it was a positive representation of First Nations, he was supportive.
"Since I don’t have elders or knowledge keepers from my Nation here, I will keep dancing because I love it," Peters said.
"It’s about the drumbeat too. It just brings you to a place where it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. I’m representing Indigenous people and being proud of who I am. As a Jingle Dress dancer, I perform a healing medicine dance. I’ve done a lot of work on myself and my healing journey, and I always pray for my children because they are my reason for living. I did everything I could for them as they grew up. I worked so hard to make a home for them, and I did whatever I could for them."
Peters has 26-year-old twins, Braiden and Kaitlyn, and 22-year-old Devon.
"That’s why I dance — a lot of it is for me," Peters said. "I started this journey because, in my teenage years, I fell into drugs and alcohol. It was my mum and dad who reminded me that wasn’t who I was that set me straight. I was a good student and made good grades. Then in Grade 10, I started having flashbacks of the abuse I had endured as a child."
Peters said her mother’s belief in her helped her move away from a path of self-destruction toward healing.
"I had it in my head that I needed to keep busy," Peters said.
So, she went to school and got a job.
"I started going to Pow Wow Nights at the Native Friendship Centre. I loved it because it kept me busy, and I got to create things. Then I met the kids’ dad, and he wanted to dance too, so I made our regalia. You could say dancing saved my life," Peters said.
She had her children soon after that, and raising them was her main focus, especially when the twins came first.
Her healing journey began later, and she started attending ceremonies, including sweat lodges.
"When I separated from the kids’ dad, I got to be Tracy and find out who I was. I still maintained my passion for dancing," Peters said.
"I kept making regalia because it was my happy place, and I started running. When I met my partner Michael Antoine, I was running 10K."
She was in a good place in her life.
"He’s really helped me just be Tracy," Peters said about Antoine.
"He’s my love. He’s the one. I’ve had so much inspiration since he came into my life."
Kym Gouchie, singer, songwriter and artist, asked Peters to create several outfits, including her gown for the JUNO Awards held recently in Vancouver. Gouchie was nominated in the Children’s Album of the Year category. While Raffi and the Good Lovelies won the award, Peters made several skirts and the gown for Gouchie, as the JUNO nominee had multiple events to attend during the celebrations.
Peters said she would carefully prepare ahead of time when creating the wearable art for Gouchie.
"I smudge before I do my work every day," Peters said.
"It cleanses the whole space and ensures I’m doing good work, with good thoughts put into every piece. I believe in the transference of energy. If I’m angry and working on something for you, and I give it to you, you may not understand why, but you’ll feel it. I don’t want anyone to have bad energy. Good intentions and love go into my work because I love sewing and creating."
It meant the world to Peters that Gouchie asked her to be part of her JUNO experience.
"I couldn’t stop smiling — someone wanted my work," Peters said.
"I loved creating multiple pieces because it allowed me to come up with more ideas as I worked. So those ideas kept coming when I was doing multiple items. It works out for me."
The final tally included a gown, a cape for the gala, and six skirts, all showcasing traditional Indigenous features.
For Peters, it meant everything to have Gouchie seek out her talents.
"It was amazing," Peters said, getting emotional.
"There are tears because I’m just not used to being recognized in a good way. I always fight for my Indigenous people, for others to understand what we’ve gone through. For us to be here now and for me to be recognized in a good way — it’s just awesome. It means so much to me to make my grandparents proud, to make my mom proud."
