OKANAGAN INDIAN IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

THE OKANAGAN INDIAN BAND IS PART OF SEVEN BANDS. THEY ARE LOCATED AT THE HEAD OF THE OKANANGAN BAND NEAR VERNON. THEY HAVE 11,282 HECTARES. HALF OF THEIR 1690 MEMBERS LIVE ON THE RESERVE AND 1/2 LIVE OFF. THEY HAVE HEALTH SERVICES. SOCIAL SERVICES, EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION TO NAME A FEW OF THEIR SERVICES. THEY WANT TO PROMOTE THEIR LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND HISTORY FOR ALL . THEY HAVE DEVELOPED A NATION DECLARATION AND A NATIONAL ALLIANCE MANDATE.

THEY HAVE SEVEN RESERVES OF 11,000 HECTARES. THEY FACE UNIQUE CHALLENGES WITHIN THEIR ORGANIZATION. THEY NEED TO BUILD CAPACITY FOR LABOR ORGANIZATIONS. THEY ARE WORKING FOR PROVIDING CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE SERVICES. ONE ANTHROPOLOGIST SAID THEY ARE DERIVED FROM A PLACE ON THE RIVER NEAR THE FALLS. THE SALMON ARE THERE AND THIS HELPS THEM SURVIVE.

OKANAGAN COUNCIL CHAMBER WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT ON ANOTHER SITE AND MOVED TO ITS CURRENT LOCATION, THE HEAD OF THE LAKE IN THE EARLY 1900'S. THEIR ELDER JOSEPHINE EDWARDS WAS ONE OF THE MAIN CONTRIBUTORS TO THE RESTRICTION OF THE NEW COUNCIL CHAMBER. THEY HAD BEEN BUILT NEXT TO THE COMMUNITY MEETING PLACE. IT WAS BUILT TO HOUSE CHIEF AND COUNCIL MEETINGS AND USED FOR STICK GAMES. THESE ENDED IN THE 1980'S. THIS WAS A CENTRAL MEETING PLACE FOR ALL NEIGHBORING TRIBES. THE STRUCTURE WAS BUILT AS A MEMORIAL TO SHOW WHERE OUR PEOPLE MET TO KEEP THEIR RICH CULTURE ALIVE.

THE COMMONAGE CLAIM OF 1877 - 2000
IN 1877 THE NORTHERN OKANAGAN COMMONAGE RESERVE WAS ESTABLISHED. IT STATED THAT THE JOINT RESERVE COMMISSION GAVE THE NATIVES PASTURE IN COMMON WITH ANGLO SETTLERS. THE COMMAGE AREA WAS SURVEYED AND APPROVED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT. IN 1889 THE GOVERNMENT HAD PRESSURE TO TERMINATE THE NATIVE LAND WITHOUT CONSULTING THE OKANANGAN. THE BAND NEVER RECEIVED COMPENSATION FROM THEIR LOSS.

OKIB.CA.HISTORY