Knebease - Sarah Layton
On behalf of the family, we would like to thank the different organizations for their support during our time of sorrow.
Survived by: Fred Layton (Sid), loving husband; Children, Thelma, Shirley, Rose, Milton, Correen, Clifford, Fred Jr., Darlene; Predeceased Carol; Other family, Irene, Elsie, Lucy, Kathlyn, Warren, Helen, Doris, Thelma, Jerry, Tina.
In memory of Sarah Jean Layton born January 14, 1930. Her parents Enoch and Mary Seymour are deceased. She was raised on Honis’tot’en Territory near Houston, until she was 18-years-old. Sarah was second oldest of ten children, Sam, Alec, Maggie, Marianne, Andrew, Irene, Lucy, and Elsie. They were raised in Houston and out on the territory south of Houston. The family taught her the taditional way of living on the land. Their mother, Mary, died while they were young and grandma Christine Holland raised the family.
Knedibeas: This hereditary name has been handed down in this family for generations. Grandma Christine passed on in 1980, and Sarah took on this name in 1981, along with this she became the caretaker of the Honis’tot’en territory. Since that time Sarah has carried out her role as leader of her house, which is the dark house.
Sid and Sarah married on September 12, 1958. They had been married for forty-six years. Sarah and Sid returned to Moricetown every summer to prepare fish for the family.
She represented her house as witness in the Delgumuxk — Gisdayway, Supreme Court of Canada. With her oral history of the Honis’tot’en territory, she represented her family with great dignity, knowledge, and wisdom. The following ten years she represented the family on the land and in the Treaty Process.
Here she stood firm in her beliefs about what was lost by her people. The livelihood, the resources, all exploited and abused. She cried when she saw the devastation.
Sarah’s support, giving nature, lovely smile will be missed by all the staff and people of the Office of the Wet’suwet’en.