Regional Outreach Coordinator, British Columbia
We’tsuwet’en hereditary chief
Theresa Tait-Day
Theresa Tait Day is a We’tsuwet’en hereditary chief. As Wi’haliy’te, her hereditary role is to heal. and Theresa has developed a powerful ability to bridge native and non-native communities, and to help resolve conflict in highly challenging environments where interests conflict and resources are scarce.
She sits at the Wetsuwet’en Chiefs table as Wihaliyt’e (Big Medicine) and there helps guide negotiations with government and industry, and has worked to re-establish Wetsuwet’en traditional decision-making and governance.
Theresa has worked as Director of Native Programs with the Legal Services Society, where she was responsible for helping to provide legal services to native people in British Columbia. While on the Equality Rights Panel at the former CourtChallenges Program of Canada, Theresa also advised on the potential positive impacts of Charter of Rights test cases.
A former social worker assistant with the Ministry of Children and Family Development, Theresa became an active member of the Smithers Social Planning Council. She also founded the Bridging Committee, which spearheaded several initiatives to combat racism, including the town’s groundbreaking Unlearning Racism Workshop.
Currently, Theresa is working with Northwest Community College, where she helps students with counseling support services, funding applications and cross-cultural awareness.
In addition to her busy work schedule, Theresa and her husband Fred Dennis Day are adventure guides in the Tahltan territory, where they take international clients big game hunting by horseback. From 2006 to 2010, she ran the Little Frog Cafe, which she built from the ground up on the Moricetown Reserve. She is also a self-trained acrylic and birch bark artist. and the author of the chapbook Inside Out, which was published by Lazara Press.
Theresa’s primary goal is to become a successful entrepreneur and to help First Nations communities become self-sufficient in business while maintaining and strengthening family, clan and First Nations governance systems.
