Indigenous Peoples Day 2023

Providing you an al ternative landf ill and was te management facilit y for the K amloops region.

Utilizing innovative technology and industr y best prac tices with robust environmental monitoring methods, this brand new facilit y is future-focused on the environment . By diver ting waste away from t ypical landfills, our facilit y will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also protec t precious wildlife

WE ACCEP T THE FOLLOWING RE SIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL WA STE:

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW )

Demolition, L and Clearing, and Construc tion Debris (DLC)

• Organic Matter Composting

• Residential Appliances

• Scrap Me tal

• White Goods

• Small Appliances and Mattresses

Clean Concre te Concre te Produc t s

• Clean Wood Waste

• Crushable Rock Material for A ggregate

• Non-Hazardous Soil

• A sphalt Roof ing Shingles

• Non-Hazardous Hydro -vac Slurr y

THE FACILIT Y WILL PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING SER VICE S:

• Organic matter compost facilit y will conver t food and yard waste into nutrient-rich topsoil

• Double-lined engineered landf ill cell accept s demolition, land- clearing, and construc tion debris, as well as residential and commercial municipal solid waste

Recycling transfer station for scrap me tals, clean lumber and concre te, asphalt shingles, batteries, propane tank s, used appliances and other miscellaneous household items

• Hydrovac truck solidif ication sumps for non-hazardous material

The S t swék stem Engineered Waste Management Facilit y is located on the traditional territor y of the Tk emlups te Sec wépemc Nation and is a joint venture with the Tk ’emlúps te Sec wépemc Nation and Grassland Organics

June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day

It is a day for all Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

The Canadian Constitution recognizes these three groups as Aboriginal peoples, also known as Indigenous peoples.

Although these groups share many similarities, they each have their own distinct heritage, language, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs.

In cooperation with Indigenous organizations, the Government of Canada

chose June 21, the summer solstice, for National Aboriginal Day, now known as National Indigenous Peoples Day. For generations, many Indigenous peoples and communities have celebrated their culture and heritage on or near this day due to the significance of the summer solstice as the longest day of the year.

National Aboriginal Day was announced in 1996 by then Governor General of Canada, Romeo LeBlanc, through the Proclamation declaring June 21 of each year as national Aboriginal Day.

This was the result of consultations and statements of support

for such a day made by various Indigenous groups;

• In 1982, the National Indian Brotherhood

(now the Assembly of First Nations) called for the creation of National Aboriginal Solidarity Day.

• In 1995, the Sacred Assembly, a national conference of Indigenous and nonIndigenous people

chaired by Elijah Harper, called for a national holiday to celebrate the contributions of Indigenous Peoples.

• Also in 1995, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples recommended the designation of a National First Peoples Day.

On June 21, 2017, the Prime Minister issued a statement announcing the intention to rename this day National Indigenous Peoples Day. National Indigenous Peoples Day is part of the Celebrate Canada program, which also includes SaintJean-Baptiste Day (June 24), Canadian Multiculturalism Day (June 27) and Canada Day (July 1).

THE KAMLOOPA POWWOW SOCIETY PRESENTS THE 42ND ANNUAL

Honouring Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc

On June 21, 1996, the Governor General of Canada, Romeo LeBlanc, proclaimed it National Aboriginal Day. It is an opportunity for everyone to celebrate the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.

In 2017, the Prime Minister announced the day would be renamed National Indigenous Peoples Day. Why June 21? It is a day of spiritual significance, as it is when Indigenous peoples celebrated the arrival of warm weather and the summer solstice.

The Secwépemc have had many accomplishments and contributions to celebrate. This is evident in: the publication of Secwépemc arts, books, film and other media, postsecondary, trades and training

graduates, honourary doctorates, language and culture revitalization initiatives, numerous awards and many business ventures. We have survived the Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) and have turned the building, that took our language and culture, into a place of business.

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc has implemented language and culture revitalization initiatives, such as Tkek Yeel Stem summer camp and Wumecwílc re Secwepemctsín and Simon Fraser University Language Proficiency Diploma Program. Language lessons are provided to staff and our language and cultural protocols are incorporated into the work of all of our departments, Little Fawn Nursery and Sk’elep School of Excellence.

The Secwépemc, whose ancestors have lived in the south-central interior of B.C. for thousands of years, occupied traditional territory from the Columbia River Valley, to west of the Fraser River, south to the Arrow Lakes, covering 180,000 square kilometres. We were not visited by Europeans until 1811. In 1812, Fort Kamloops was established. Secwépemc territory was not permanently settled by the newcomers until the gold rush of the late 1850s.

Among the Secwépemc, there was an effort to improve the conditions of the people by such leaders as Chief Louis (Clexlixqen), who was the Tk’emlúps hereditary chief from 1850 until his death in 1915. The Secwépemc, led by Chief Louis and chiefs of other

Interior tribes, in 1910, presented a petition to Canada’s Prime Minister, Wilfrid Laurier. Known as the Memorial to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, it is an important document outlining our title and rights and it outlines the pathway towards building positive and equal relationships between the Secwépemc and Western settlers.

The Shuswap Nation, called Secwepemcúl’ecw, today comprises 17 bands living in their traditional territory of approximately 145,000 square kilometres. There are about 7,000 Secwépemc living in this vast region of the Interior.

The Secwépemc Cultural Education Society (SCES), formed in 1982 to preserve, record, and enhance the history, language and culture of the Secwépemc people, estab -

lished a museum in the former residential school building, later moving it to the annex of the school. A five-hectare heritage park was officially opened in 1993 by SCES and the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, displaying Secwépemc culture including reconstructed c7ístkten (pit-houses) on the site of a 2,000 year-old winter village.

The operation of the museum and heritage park has since been fully taken over by Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, but is closed currently.

Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc continues to be proud of its language, culture, practices and protocols and we intend on sharing this important knowledge with our future generations so they continue to know the pride in being Tk’emlúpsemc.

honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day

Canada Post has unveiled a commemorative stamp honouring the life and legacy of George Manuel, a member of the Neskonlith Indian Band just east of Kamloops. The multicoloured designs, illustrated by Secwépemc artist Tania Willard, represent the “shining light” of Manuel’s message for international Indigenous rights. This stamp is one of three Indigenous Leaders stamps that will be released on June 21. The set is the second in Canada Post’s multi-year Indigenous Leaders series. The new stamps and collectibles will be available at canadapost.ca and postal outlets across Canada beginning June 21.

Canada Post commemorative stamp honours Kamloops-area Indigenous leader

Canada Post has unveiled a commemorative stamp honouring the life and legacy of George Manuel.

A member of the Neskonlith Indian Band just east of Kamloops, and of the Secwépemc Nation Manuel was an author, astute political strategist and champion of Indigenous Peoples whom many credit with inspiring the modern Indigenous movement in Canada.

During a political career that spanned four decades, Manuel dedicated himself to uniting Indigenous Peoples around the world at the local, regional, national and international levels.

This stamp is one of three

Indigenous Leaders stamps that will be released on June 21.

The set is the second in Canada Post’s multi-year Indigenous Leaders series.

MANUEL’S WORK AND LEGACY

George Manuel served as national chief of what is now the Assembly of First Nations from 1970 to 1976 and as the first president of both the World Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.

Manuel believed that Indigenous Peoples, at home and around the world, could achieve their goals if they united. He fought the Canadian government’s policies of assimilation and

organized the Constitution Express, a movement that brought supporters from the West to Ottawa and to the United Nations headquarters in New York by train in 1980.

He also organized a trip to Europe in 1981 to lobby for the inclusion of Indigenous rights in the patriated Canadian Constitution.

His efforts contributed to the recognition and affirmation of existing Indigenous and treaty rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.

Co-founder of the Centre for World Indigenous Studies, Manuel was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was born in 1921 and died on November 15, 1989, in Kamloops.

ABOUT THE STAMP

Cancelled (a postal marking applied on a postage stamp or postal stationery to deface the stamp and to prevent its reuse) in Chase, Manuel’s birthplace, the stamp features a bold reinterpretation of a black and white image taken of Manuel in the 1970s.

The multi-coloured designs, illustrated by Secwépemc artist Tania Willard, represent the “shining light” of Manuel’s message for international Indigenous rights, while the deep red ochre evokes the pictographs and other markings found on Secwépemc lands.

ABOUT THE INDIGENOUS LEADERS STAMP SERIES

Launched in 2022, the

multi-year Indigenous Leaders stamp series highlights the contributions of modern-day First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders.

These extraordinary people dedicated their lives to preserving their cultures and improving the quality of life of the Indigenous Peoples in Canada. This year, on National Indigenous Peoples Day, Canada Post will issue stamps honouring Indigenous leaders Manuel, Nellie Cournoyea and Thelma Chalifoux.

The new stamps and collectibles will be available at canadapost. ca and postal outlets across Canada beginning June 21.

SCHOOL DISTRICT 73 POWWOW PHOTOS

On June 14, School District 73 hosted the second annual District Powwow for students in grades 4 and 5 students. The event was held at the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc Powwow Arbour, the same venue that each August hosts the world-famous Kamloopa Powwow. Mike Bowden, the school district’s principal for Aboriginal education, led the grand entry with Tk’emlups band members, district board staff and members of Kamloops RCMP rural and city detachments while more than 2,000 students enjoyed the opening ceremony.

DAVE EAGLES PHOTOS/KTW

National Indigenous Peoples Day

The City of K amloops ack nowledges that we are located on Tk ’emlúps te Sec wépemc territor y, situated within the unceded ancestral lands of the Sec wépemc Nation. We honour and respect the people, the territor y, and the land that houses our community

On behalf of my colleagues on City Council, I would like to extend a message of friendship, gratitude, and reconciliation to Indigenous community members on June 21. We are committed to ongoing learning as we do our par t to address Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on

the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

For decades, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and the City of Kamloops have been building on collaborative initiatives in areas of protocol, communication, and celebrations through shared service agreements, including fire protection, transit, and sanitary sewer management This partnership has grown through a transparent process committed to acknowledging and celebrating Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc culture, values, and history. This past year, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and the City of Kamloops were honored with a British Columbia Reconciliation Award selected by a committee that includes representation

by Indigenous Elders and BC First Nations leadership Both governments were also recognized by the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators. Reconciliation and allyship is a journey and a process – not a designation that can be earned. As we continue on this journey, we invite you to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21 by deepening your understanding of Indigenous culture and histor y

Visit K amloops.ca/TruthAndReconciliation.

Sincerely, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson

City of Kamloops

O ffice of the Mayor

Councillor Dale Bass

Councillor Nanc y Bepple

Councillor Kelly Hall

Councillor Stephen K arpuk

Councillor Margot Middleton

Councillor K atie Neaustaeter

Councillor Mike O’Reilly

Councillor Bill Sarai

Kamloopa Powwow ready for August celebration

The Kamloopa Powwow has grown into one of the largest celebrations of First Nations culture in Western Canada.

The powwow represents many years of stories and events of Indigenous culture, celebrated over three days at the Secwépemc Powwow grounds alongside the South Thompson River.

This year’s event is set to run from Aug. 4 to Aug. 6.

Organized by a handful of volunteers, the Kamloopa Powwow attracts people from throughout B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Washington and Idaho.

The Shuswap Brothers and Sisters Society held the first Kamloopa

Powwow in 1979.

In 1993, in conjunction with the Canada Summer Games, the Tk’emlúps Arbour was built.

Upon the retirement of the Shuswap Brothers and Sisters Society in 2000, the Kamloopa Powwow Society was created. The

first powwow organized by the new non-profit organization was held in 2001.

At the original powwow held 37 years ago, there was one drum and maybe 20 dancers.

Today, the powwow plays host to about 20

drums and hundreds of dancers, awards almost $80,000 in prize payouts and attracts upwards of 20,000 attendees.

Categories include traditional, chicken, jingle, grass, fancy feather and fancy shawl for adult, teen and junior.

In addition to the regular dances, there is a selection of specials, which are hosted by families.

Chief and council host specials each year, which signifies council recognizing visitors. A grand entry takes place every day — at 7 p.m. on

The Kamloopa Powwow celebrates each year at the Secwépemc Powwow grounds alongside the South Thompson River. Dancing together are traditional, chicken, jingle, grass, fancy feather and fancy shawl dancers. The powwow welcomes nonFirst Nations people to partake, learn and enjoy.

the opening Friday night, then at noon on Saturday and Sunday.

The powwow also welcomes non-First Nations people to partake, learn and enjoy.

For more information, check out the Kamloopa Powwow Facebook page.

KTW FILE PHOTO

c e l e b r at i n g N at i o n a l i n d i g e n o u s

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June 21st is National Indigenous Peoples Day, a day to celebrate and honour the histor y, sacrifices, contributions and strength of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people across Canada. A time for Canadians, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to come together and strive towards a stronger future. New Afton Mine would like to take this moment to recognize and thank our Indigenous employees and partners, the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc, which is comprised of Skeetchestn and Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. We recognize and appreciate the opportunity to operate within the traditional territor y of the Secwépemc Nation.

The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc grocery store —Sweláps Market — is nearing its fall completion date. The 22,000-square-foot store will create 50 jobs within the first year and an estimated 100 jobs by year five. Construction is on schedule for a fall opening with a soft grand opening. The Sweláps Market will be focused on locally sourced and Indigenous products whenever possible.

DAVE EAGLES/KTW

Sweláps Market is taking shape in Tk’emlúps

THE 15.2-MILLION PROJECT WILL BRING FOOD CLOSER TO HOME, CREATE STRONG EMPLOYMENT AND FURTHER STRENGTHEN TK’EMLÚPS TE SECWÉPEMC ECONOMY

The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc grocery store — Sweláps Market — is nearing its fall completion date.

The $15.2-million project has seen VisionQuest Advisors (a business consultancy dedicated to Canada’s First Nations) and Tk’emlúps’ business and economic development department work to fulfil a long-envisioned goal of a grocery store that creates opportunities for partnerships and employment for its members, while reinforcing Secwépemc cultural traditions.

Tk’emlúps Kúkpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir said in a

project highlights statement, “This project will bring food closer to home, create employment and further strengthen our economy. It will be a source of pride as leadership is fully implementing a communitydriven opportunity. The grocery store will benefit not only our membership, but all our friends who reside on Tk’emlúps, as well as those who will travel here to support our band-owned grocery store.”

The 22,000-square-foot store will create 50 jobs within the first year and an estimated 100 jobs by year five.

Construction is on schedule

for a fall opening with a soft grand opening.

Band members Charles Dumont and son Ryder have created a large feature log that mimics the entryway of a traditional Indigenous pithouse, which will greet shoppers at the market entrance.

The father-son duo carved the Western red cedar log at the grocery store site, seeing it set into place in March.

Crews are currently installing exterior cladding to the building, with the interior beginning to take shape as crews install refrigeration, furniture, fixtures and equipment.

VisionQuest Advisors managing directer Amy Boeckner said the Sweláps Market will be focused on locally sourced and Indigenous products whenever possible.

The Tk’emlúps-owned independent grocer will have a relationship with a major supplier — with a full grocery selection, top-quality fresh departments, in-house butcher, bakery and deli, gelato bar and online ordering and delivery options.

Stokes said the market is in a great spot and is a needed service helping to meet the needs of band membership and everyone who lives and works in the area.

She said the band is excited, noting it has been an honour for VisionQuest Advisors to be a part of the team.

Sweláps Market is planning two job fairs this fall, prior to its opening.

Kara Stokes has recently been hired as general manager — bringing her extensive food service and grocery management experience to the market. Stokes is a mother of three children and was born in Kamloops and raised in Barriere.

For more information on the project and to view job postings, go online to swelapsmarket.ca or email info@swelapsmarket.ca.

The memorial to Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier was sympathetic to the Aboriginal cause, but he was voted out of office the following year.

The Interior chiefs have continued to press their case, but 100 years after their meeting with Laurier, they have still not obtained a resolution of their claims.

In the 100-block of Victoria Street in downtown Kamloops, there is a boulder with a plaque on it.

The plaque states in English and Secwépemcstin, the Secwépemc language: “Near this site, in the former IOOF Hall, on August 25, 1910, chiefs representing the Secwépemc, Syilx, and Nlaka’pamux Nations met with Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier.”

They presented him with a powerful memorial that outlined the history of their grievances centred on the loss of their homelands and livelihood and asked the Canadian government to do justice to them and settle the land question.

Laurier was sympathetic to the Aboriginal cause, but he was voted out of

office the following year.

The Interior chiefs have continued to press their case, but more than a century after their meeting with Laurier, they have still not obtained a resolution of their claims. A month before the Memorial was made to Laurier, a large gathering of

Happy IndigenousPeoples Day

Tracey Metallic has designed many of the prints , she is mi ’gmaq ar tist from Quebec . Jackie Traverse has designed the Ojibway florals , she resides in Winnipeg.

Nlaka’pamux (Thompson), Secwépemc (Shuswap) and syilx (Okanagan) chiefs met at Spences Bridge on July 16, 1910 to hold, in James Teit’s words, “a big ‘talk’ preliminary to sending a big ‘paper’ to Ottawa recounting their grievances.”

Teit, a resident of Spence’s Bridge for

25 years, was married to Lucy Antko, a Nlaka’pamux woman (from 1892 until she passed away in 1899), and was conversant in local Indigenous languages and their cultures. Teit was a friend and ally of the Interior Chiefs.

See INTERIOR, B15

FROM TOP LEFT: A plaque on the 100-block of Victoria Street marks the meeting of Interior Chiefs with Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier. An official portrait of Sir Wilfred Laurier. A group portrait of Chiefs Petit Louis, Basil David (Dick) and John Chilahitsa.

Interior chiefs sign declaration of position

He became their “hand.” Previous to the Memorial, 24 Interior chiefs signed the declaration at Spences Bridge setting out their position on Aboriginal title and rights. Author Kerry Coast writes, “They understood how important it was for them to carefully define and speak for their own concerns.”

Teit, as their secretary, penned eight points the chiefs made, “To Whom It May Concern.” Having heard soon after that Laurier was going to stop in Kamloops on a cross-country rail tour, the chiefs decided it was important to send a delegation to meet with him.

The chiefs directed Teit to use the declaration and help produce the Memorial statement on their behalf and the final Memorial as we know it was presented to Laurier by the Interior chiefs at the I.O.O.F. (Oddfellows) Hall in Kamloops.

The private meeting was held in the upstairs hall with Laurier and his entourage of Liberals and several chiefs, including

hereditary chiefs Johnny Chillaheetsa (or Chilahitsa), chief of the Douglas Lake Band of the Syilx/Okanagan, David Basil (Basil Dick) of the St’uxtews (or Bonaparte Band) of the Secwépemc Nation, Petit Louis (or Louis Clexlixqen) of the Tk’emlupsemc (Kamloops) Secwépemc and John Tetlenitsa of the Nlaka’pamux.

Also present was a 102-year-old chief from Xaxli’p (Fountain reserve, near Lillooet). Father LeJeune, the Catholic priest on the Tk’emlúps reserve, read the address to Laurier.

Teit, whose name appears as secretary on the Memorial, was not present, but on a planned hunting trip to Telegraph Creek in northern B.C., where he would help the Talhtan write a similar memorial.

The Kamloops Sentinel newspaper reported on the meeting the following day, stating: “The Memorial is an excellently drawn up presentation of their case in support of their demand for treaties . . . They claim they have never forfeited the land which was theirs when the white men came. They dispute the claim put up by the pro-

vincial government that the ownership of the land is vested in that government and assert that all the friction that has arisen is due to the policy of the provincial government. And they look to the Dominion government to take up their side of the question in their behalf.”

The Memorial recounts how the relationship with the early fur traders, the “real whites,” was good. They were mainly French-speaking “and we trusted and respected them,” but after 1858, “other whites came to this country.” States the Memorial, “At first they looked only for gold.”

Gradually, however, the Interior peoples’ land was taken from them by settlers, the beginning of dispossession. (To read the full Memorial, go online to https://bit. ly/3pXHo7i).

Laurier listened to the Memorial from the chiefs about their loss of land and resources. He has been called a visionary politician whose ideal of independent Canadian nationhood was one of compromise. After hearing the statement of

the chiefs, Laurier promised to help the Indigenous leaders. B.C. Premier Richard McBride was consulted, but to no avail.

Laurier then met in April 1911 with Arthur O’Meara, lawyer for the Interior Tribes of B.C., and Frank Oliver, minister of the interior, and others.

An expanded Memorial was sent to Oliver in May. But a year after the Memorial in Laurier’s name, he was defeated at the polls and the new Conservative government under Robert Borden took the issue of Aboriginal rights off the table. However, the spirit and the intention of the Memorial to Sir Wilfrid Laurier lives on.

The Interior nations certainly have a long history of trying to meet and work out an equitable agreement with Canada, as illustrated in their prominent efforts to meet with government and to work on a resolution as the Memorial laid out to Sir Wilfrid Laurier and presented to him in Kamloops in 1910.

The Interior Nations of Secwépemc, Syilx, Nlaka’pamux and St’át’imc are still trying to resolve the land question equitably.

In the land of the people of the confluence

The word “Kamloops” is the English translation of the Shuswap word Tk’emlúps, meaning “where the rivers meet” and for centuries has been the home of the Tk’emlupsemc, “people of the confluence.”

At one time, the Secwépemc people occupied one large traditional territory covering approximately 145,000 square kilometres.

In 1811, after European contact, the colonial government divided the Secwépemc people into 17 distinct groups, with specific parcels of land designated to each.

The Kamloops reserve land base was established in 1862 under the direction of Gov. James Douglas. It is located east of the North Thompson River and north

of the South Thompson River, adjacent to the City of Kamloops.

Tk’emlúps has always occupied a place of great economic importance in the region. Traversed by two major waterways, traditional Tk’emlupsemc territory was the centre of major traffic and trade routes.

Due to the community’s great economic and military strength, as well as its ancestors’ pivotal role in the creation of peace accords, the Tk’emlupsemc were designated the Secwepemc7uwi, “the real Shuswap.”

The Tk‘emlúpsemc, now known as the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, are members of the Interior-Salish Secwépemc (Shuswap)-speaking peoples of B.C.

The Secwépemc people occupy a vast territory of the Interior of the province, stretching from

the Columbia River Valley along the Rocky Mountains, west to the Fraser River, and south to the Arrow Lakes.

The traditional Secwépemc lived as a self-governing nation grouped into bands. Although the bands were separate and independent, a common language and a similar culture and belief system united them.

Before the smallpox epidemic of 1862, there were 32 Secwépemc bands with four Secwépemc dialects. Today, there are 17 remaining bands that make up the Secwépemc Nation and three Secwépemc dialects.

Traditionally, the Secwépemc depended on the natural resources of the land. Each band usually spent the winter in its own village of pit houses. During the rest of the year, most Secwépemc people lived a nomadic lifestyle. They moved from place to place

as foods became available in different areas. They developed a unique, self-sufficient culture.

Two European fur trading posts were established in Kamloops in 1812, utilizing Indigenous skills to harvest animal populations, such as beaver.

By 1826 the effects of trapping on these populations were already noticeable.

Population increased in the Kamloops area from the late 1850s with gold miners, followed by ranchers in the 1860s and railway workers in the 1880s.

Chief Louis, born in 1828, was Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc chief from 1855 until his death in 1915. Petit Louis, or Hli Kleh Kan, was a dominant figure in the development of the Kamloops region and the construction of St. Joseph’s Church.

On several occasions, he

Highland Valley Copper

Together we honour this day in recognizing diverse cultures, unique heritage and valuable contributions of Indigenous Peoples.

June 21 National Indigenous Peoples Day.

went to Ottawa in an attempt to negotiate for more land for his people and travelled to England to plead the case for the band to Queen Victoria.

His leadership did much to improve conditions for Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc during white settlement.

The pre-contact Kamloops economy had three sectors: fishing, gathering (roots and berries) and hunting. The relative importance of these has been much discussed in the archaeological and anthropological literature.

A reasonable guess for the ratio of the sectors in the diet of the people at the time of first contact with Europeans is in the region of one-third fish (principally salmon), one-third roots and berries and one-third hunted meat.

— tkemlups.ca

June is National Indigenous History Month

hile June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day, the entire month of June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada, an opportunity to learn about the unique cultures, traditions and experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

It’s a time to honour the stories, achievements and resilience of Indigenous Peoples who have lived on this land since time immemorial and whose presence continues to impact the evolving Canada.

In 2009, the House of Commons designated June

Was National Aboriginal History Month. The name was changed to National Indigenous History Month in 2017.

THESE ARE THE WEEKLY THEMES FOR NATIONAL INDIGENOUS HISTORY MONTH IN 2023:

• June 1 to 6: Women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people

• June 5 to 11: Environment, traditional knowledge and territory

• June 10 to 18: Children and youth

• June 19 to 25: Languages, cultures and arts

• June 26 to 30: Reconciliation.

National Indigenous Peoples Day

The District of Logan Lake is honoured to pay respect to our First Nations friends and neighbours and to celebrate their heritage, culture, language and achievements on National Indigenous Peoples Day.

One Nation, healthy, unified, and engaged, grounded in traditional laws, culture, values, and language.

The Shuswap Nation Tribal Council is proud to celebrate First Nations on National Indigenous Peoples Day.

Every Child Matters

The Village of Chase is honoured to be part of celebrating National Indigenous People’s Day in beautiful Secwepemc territory.

ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW FILE