Cariboo
Community Deathcare
Support, Guidance, Education and Advocacy
Cariboo Community Deathcare
Based in Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada
and serving the Cariboo-Chilcotin
“Reclaiming Death as an Honoured part of Life“
Cariboo Community Deathcare: What we're all about.
Dying, Death and Remembrance
Cariboo Community Deathcare is based in Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada. We are reaching out to connect with others who are interested in rekindling a culture that recognizes and responds to death and dying in natural and meaningful ways. "Reclaiming Death as an Honoured Part of Life." (Judith McGill)
Our focus is on increasing death literacy in the region and to help and encourage each other as we build a holistic community deathcaring network in the Cariboo, and throughout rural British Columbia.
We are currently hosting Virtual and Community Death Cafes, and we successfully hosted a local Death Festival in partnership with the national Swan Song Festival on October 26th, 2019. Visit the Archive here. Join us at our next Virtual Death Cafe. Follow us on Facebook.
We provide access to information for individuals and families who want to be more proactive and hands-on with dying and death. We are reaching out to and working with local resource people and organizations involved in offering deathcaring services.
We are enthusiastically planning a series of Death Talks in our local communities and we are in the beginning stages of establishing a Natural Burial Sanctuary in the Cariboo.
Both founding members of the Cariboo Community Deathcare are trained as End-of-Life Doulas.
Angela Gutzer studied with the Institute of Traditional Medicine. Angela is transitioning from her 12-year career as a Veterinarian to her passion for the holistic deathcaring of people and pets. Angela has a special interest in guiding families through the home funeral process.
Nicola Finch took her End-of-Life Doula training through Douglas College. She brings her online expertise, and her decades of involvement with deathcaring; personally and professionally. Nicola has a special interest in natural burial and death literacy through education.
Cariboo Community Deathcaring Network is so pleased to welcome emerging Cariboo Death Doula, Mary Borkowski Sutton. Mary is an active member of the community in Williams Lake and will already be a familiar face to many.
Mary graduated in 2016 from Douglas College, and currently wears a child and youth mental health support worker hat, specializing in Grief and trauma, and child development.
As well as being an emerging Death Doula, she is a certified Meditation and Emotional Freedom Technique Practitioner.
Outside of her work life, Mary spends her time enjoying all that the traditional Secwepmec and Tsilqot’in territories have to offer. Most often, you can find her on the trails, or in the water, with her two dogs and devoted partner.
Cariboo Community Deathcare is part of a much larger movement of reclaiming deathcare and bringing the conversations about dying, death, and bereavement back home.
Some of the things we’re addressing locally are home funerals, legal issues & practices around end-of-life in BC, end-of-life planning (Advance Care Planning), End-of-life Choices, MAiD, a local Natural Burial Cemetery for people and pets, greener cremations, Coffin Clubs, building a stone barrow/pit house for ashes, dying at home, and home funerals.
We invite you to join the conversation. Drop us a note if you would like to be on our mailing list for news and upcoming events.
Who we are
CoFounders of Cariboo Community Deathcare
Small Business Owner and Death Doula; Nicola Finch
Veterinarian and Death Doula; Angela Gutzer
Nicola Finch
Nicola brings her leadership skills and online expertise to the Network along with decades of involvement with deathcaring personally and professionally. She has a particular interest in death literacy through education and Natural Burial. Nicola took her Death Doula training through Douglas College, is a supporting member of the End of Life Doula Association of Canada and an active member of the Death Doula Network International
778-765-1552
Angela Gutzer
Angela has transitioned from her 12-year career as a veterinarian to pursue her passion for holistic death caring of pets. She occasionally still works as a locum at various locations throughout BC. Angela has a particular interest in guiding families through the home funeral process. Angela completed ITM’s extensive Contemplative End of Life Care Program.
250 267 4636
Mary Borkowski Sutton
Mary is an active member of the community in Williams Lake and will already be a familiar face to many.
Mary graduated in 2016 from Douglas College, and currently wears a child and youth mental health support worker hat, specializing in Grief and trauma, and child development.
As well as being an emerging Death Doula, she is a certified Meditation and Emotional Freedom Technique Practitioner.
Outside of her work life, Mary spends her time enjoying all that the traditional Secwepmec and Tsilqot’in territories have to offer. Most often, you can find her on the trails, or in the water, with her two dogs and devoted partner.
CCDC Blog
Thoughts, musings, and ruminations on Dying, Death and Disposition
Originally Published in the Summer 2022 Issue of the Green Gazette Magazine By Nicola Finch If you care about the health of the planet, what happens to your body once you are dead matters. It’s called disposition. Our disposition options in British Columbia are limited. We currently have only...June 21, 2020Written by Nicola Finch and originally published in the Summer 2020 issue of The Green Gazette. In many respects, our new reality feels like a return to an old way of being with a slower, gentler focus on family and community and on the world under our feet—the natural, physical world. We have...by Nicola Finch I came to an understanding when I was quite young, that grief and loss were part of life. My mother grieved the death of her father. I knew into the depth of my being that her grief was a big part of who she was and that she had a magnificent capacity for love. My mom's dad;...More PostsKeeping the conversation going.
Cariboo Community Deathcare and Natural Burial in BC will continue to keep you up to date on the progress of establishing a Natural Burial Ground in Williams Lake, British Columbia.
We have identified that Green Burial options are a priority for many residents of Williams Lake and the Central Cariboo. Currently, there are just two disposition options available at the Williams Lake Municipal Cemetery. The cemetery offers cremation or a traditional casket burial with a mandatory fiberglass vault.
We've had word from Cindy Walters, Municipal Services Coordinator at the City of Williams Lake that “...our current cemetery location does not have room for expansion for natural burials at this time.”
The good news is ...
"...in the next 5 to 10 years (the City of Williams Lake) will be acquiring new land and the city is already discussing the new options that they can provide including a natural forested area for green burials.”
So... if you want a natural burial in the Williams Lake Municipal Cemetery please hold off on dying for 5 to 10 years. :)
And in the meantime, we are continuing to work toward creating a stand-alone woodland Natural Burial Ground in the Cariboo which will hopefully come to fruition in fewer than 5 years.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE
https://www.cariboonaturalburialsanctuary.ca
It will be good to have options when Natural Burial is finally implemented in our local Cemetery, and when we have our community woodland burial ground up and running.
If you are interested in working with us or learning more please be in touch. Email info@cariboonaturalburialsanctuary.ca
OUR VISION for a Natural Burial Ground in the Central Cariboo
We formed a nonprofit to fund-raise and organize the establishment of a natural burial ground in the Cariboo.
- A Woodland Burial Ground for people and pets
- A building, a Gathering place
- A Stone Barrow or Pit Barrow for the safekeeping of Ashes in Urns
- A Secular and Sacred place to come together in community and to remember our beloved dead.
FEATURED RESOURCES
Where to find caskets and burial shrouds
in British Columbia, Canada
When someone we love dies, for the most part, we purchase our casket or coffin from the funeral home that is taking care of our beloved dead. But 'the times they are a-changing.'
"Under BC’s cemetery and funeral services law, you have the right to supply your own casket for interment or cremation as long as it meets certain requirements (such as the ability to be closed, hold weight and be sufficiently sealed). Similarly, you also have the right to supply your own container to hold the cremated remains of your loved one."
Locally sourced, handcrafted caskets, coffins, DIY kits, trundles and burial shrouds are becoming available for sale direct to consumers.
This means we can plan ahead. We can purchase or make our own coffin or burial shroud. You can even use your coffin as a bookshelf or a coffee table until it’s required. It means families and individuals can purchase a burial casket, cremation container, or a shroud and trundle and have it at home to personalize to prepare for our own use or for an immediate need.
In British Columbia
"Cedar Creek Caskets is committed to producing a high-quality, culturally sensitive and environmentally responsible product that meets the needs of the Aboriginal community in British Columbia and beyond. Manufactured from sustainably sourced red cedar."
Burial Shrouds
"My Shrouds are handcrafted from 100% Natural Cotton using locally sourced materials. Our team has over 50 years of experience in manufacturing products used in funerals across North America."
Do it yourself Casket Kits & Plans
DIY Burial Shrouds
In Vancouver & North Vancouver
"You can purchase items (urns, memorial jewelery, caskets) from KORU even if you are not one of their End of Life clients."
In Case You We're Wondering
Further to our Social Media series; "Dying in BC"
#1. Death without a Funeral Provider
In British Columbia, it is legal for a family to make private funeral arrangements without a commercial provider.
It does however take preparation and planning.
If I lived within the service area of
KORU Cremation/Burial/Ceremony, I wouldn't hesitate to reach out to Ngaio and Emily when faced with a death in my family. They "support and encourage full participation from families in the caring of and mourning for their dead". KORU also provides an excellent guide on their website that addresses End of Life Essentials and covers our first topic in detail. (Pg 8)
V7-End-of-Life-Essentials-A-guide-at-death.pdf (korucremation.com)
For many of us who live in Central and Northern BC, our choices for eco-friendly, family-focused Funeral Service providers can be pretty limited, however, we can still do a great deal of research online and find excellent information from a variety of reliable sources.
Enlisting the services of an End of Life Doula who is knowledgeable about home funerals and after-death care can be extremely helpful to families who choose to go it alone. Visit Death Doula Network International for a directory of Doulas and other deathcare professionals in BC.
The End of Life Doula Association of Canada also has a roster of Doulas available in British Columbia.
#2. Cremation or ... what are our options
BC has the highest rate of Cremation in North America at about 87%. Flame Cremation is NOT an environmentally way to go. So, what are our options?
SOCIAL MEDIA
CCDC Network on Facebook and Instagram
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