Community & Culture

We Are IH: Practice lead’s compassion shines through her craft

Nicole and her son Naato-si getting family photos taken by friend Billie Jean Gabriel in Kamloops, Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Nation.

Name: Nicole Big Sorrel Horse (she/her/hers)
Job Title: Practice Lead, Indigenous Mental Wellness Team
Years of Service: 10
Worksite: Kelowna, Indigenous Mental Wellness Team, MHSU Transformation
Community: Unceded syilx nation, West Kelowna.
Ancestral Territory: Unceded syilx nation

Nicole Big Sorrel Horse is a practice lead on the Indigenous Mental Wellness team at Interior Health (IH), where she works closely with Indigenous partners and Clinical Operations to develop person-centered, culturally safe, and evidence-based resources that address mental wellness and substance use for Indigenous people. 

As a strong, compassionate person who enjoys spending time with her son and family, she’s inspired by her family and Indigenous peoples in the different Nations and communities that she supports and works with.

Learn more about Nicole Big Sorrel Horse’s journey with IH

A woman with long dark hair, wearing strawberry earrings, dark rimmed glasses, a long-sleeved red shirt and a strawberry ribbon skirt is standing outdoors on a snowy path amongst a wooded area, smiling for the camera.
Nicole wearing the strawberry ribbon skirt she made for a family photo shoot. Photo credit: Billie Jean Gabriel

Nicole’s deep compassion for the people she serves is evident in her work at IH and how she spends her time. She enjoys beading and sewing, including frequently sewing ribbon skirts. When Nicole finds herself visiting a community or Nation and sees people wearing skirts, beaded pins or earrings that she’s made, she feels a great sense of honour and gratitude. 

“In my ribbon skirt, I feel beautiful, and it is a way for me to honour my identity and pride as a st'at'imc and blood woman. Today, ribbon skirts remain an important part of Indigenous culture and they are worn every day, at ceremony and special occasions.”

Four intricate beaded pins of basket hat women wearing orange beaded dresses with different shades of blue beads and yellow beads on their sleeves and on the bottom of their dresses.
Four intricate beaded pins of basket hat women wearing orange beaded dresses with different shades of blue beads and yellow beads on their sleeves and on the bottom of their dresses. 

With a background in social work, Nicole worked as an Indigenous Patient Navigator (IPN) for seven years before moving over to the Indigenous Partnerships team, and is now with the Indigenous Mental Wellness team.

Nicole chose to work in the health-care field because of her passion for helping others and supporting Indigenous people; that is evident when she speaks of her proudest moment at IH:

My proudest moment was when I was an IPN for [Kelowna General Hospital] (KGH). I helped organize a wedding ceremony at KGH for a patient’s daughter. The patient was palliative, and she wanted to witness her daughter get married before she passed. It was a beautiful ceremony to witness, and with the help of the staff we honoured her last wishes.

-- Nicole Big Sorrel Horse
A photo of a blue ribbon skirt with different shades of purple, red, pink and blue ribbons lying on a table.
A blue ribbon skirt that Nicole made last year.

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