Debates of February 5, 2025 (day 38)

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Statements

Member’s Statement 439-20(1): Celebration of Life of Avery Julianna Burke

Good afternoon, Colleagues. I am going to advise you this is going to be a very difficult Celebration of Life to do.

Avery Julianna Burke was born on May 4th, 2018, at the BC Women's Hospital to Maureen Deneron and Preston Burke. She was the third youngest of four siblings. She spent her first two years of her life in Fort Nelson, BC, before moving to Sambaa K'e with her grandmother, Bertha Deneron.

Avery loved being with her grandmother. She was a great help to her grandmother. She loved helping do dishes, folding clothes, all the while singing away to the various songs. Her favorite music was the fiddle, especially when her sister Katrina played the fiddle. She would grab her little brother's hand and they would dance up a storm. Their smiles made the home even brighter.

She was a very outdoor type of person. She loved to put up rabbit snares and cherished when she was successful. Even at a young age, she was able to remove the snares without much trouble thanks to her grandmother teaching. She like to go chicken hunting with her sisters, who was very good shot. Once they got a chicken, she would get right to the task of plucking it. She would be heard saying "we got Grandma's supper' with a big smile.

Avery loved to look for animal track, especially in the winter. She was always curious about the various animals, their tracks, and asked tons of questions about them and their home. Like a true northerner, her favorite food was dry meat, dry fish, bannock, fruit, and moose meat with broth. Her sister Katrina like spending time with her, making endless drawings or letting her be part of whatever her and her other sister were doing. I can tell you she didn't seem to have a bad day. She loved to laugh, dance, sing with her siblings, especially with her cousin Peyton. When it came to school, she had a huge passion for it. She loved her teachers and classmates. She would go to bed Sunday excited because she got to go to school Monday morning. She would get to learn and see her teacher and classmates.

When she had time, she loved spending time with her baby brother. They would enjoy playing together and she would teach him how to do things. As the family said, she was their little ray of sunshine. She was so innocent and intelligent. She was way too precious for this world and had to leave us. I can tell you before she passed away on January 4th, she told her mother she was going to come back as a big tree and look after her baby brother. She was deeply loved and will be terribly missed by all her family and friends.