Jacqueline Merritt
Qwen Detlig / Tŝilhqot’in & Mixed Settler Ancestry
Trauma Informed Cultural Support Worker
As a Trauma-Informed Cultural Support Worker, I walk alongside individuals, families, and communities with the belief that healing is something we build together. My work is guided by the understanding that each of us carries our own medicine and as I continue learning and adding to my own medicine basket, my role is to support others in building theirs. Healing, balance, and connection are shared journeys, not solitary ones.
I am Tŝilhqot’in on my mother’s side and of English, Irish, and Scottish settler ancestry on my father’s. Raised in Xeni Gwet’in (Nemiah Valley), I am deeply grounded in the language, land, and teachings of my home community. These roots have guided my path in creating spaces of safety, belonging, and healing that honour both tradition and contemporary experiences of wellness. I now reside in Nlaka’pamux territory (Merritt) with my spouse, where together we are raising our nephew continuing to pass on the teachings of love, care, and connection across generations.
Over the past Fifthteen years, I have been guided by the knowledge and teachings of my own Tŝilhqot’in community, and have also been humbled to receive teachings from Elders and mentors within the Nlaka’pamux and Syilx Nations. These teachings have strengthened my understanding of community wellness, ceremony, and cultural responsibility. Wherever I go, I carry deep respect for the lands, languages, and protocols of the Nations. I am welcomed into recognizing that this work is done in relationship, reciprocity, and gratitude.
My experience includes supporting children, youth, families, and communities in cultural, community, and mental-health settings from prevention programs and wrap-around supports that strengthen connection and belonging. I believe in creating circles of care spaces where people feel seen, valued, and supported through community and culture.
My passion lies in helping others heal through reconnection whether that’s through one on one, community gatherings, on-the-land wellness events, or the revitalization of traditional hand-poke tattooing as an act of healing and cultural remembrance. These practices allow stories, emotions, and ancestral guidance to move through us in ways that words alone cannot.
My education and training include a Professional Counselling Diploma with an Indigenous-focused Orientated Trauma Informed Certificate , Critical Incident Stress Management. As a daughter and granddaughter of residential school survivors, I understand deeply the layers of grief, resilience, and love that live within our stories. This understanding shapes every space I hold ensuring it is guided by compassion, cultural safety, and my mentors.
My goal is to walk beside people as they reconnect with their own strength and ancestral knowledge to create spaces of healing, expression, and transformation where each person can find balance, safety, and a sense of belonging in their own time.
