Ktunaxa Nation Acknowledgement

A great place to take a break!

Find these “hidden gems” in Yahk, BC. Ktunaxa Nation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

THESE beautiful lands are the traditional and unceded territory of the Ktunaxa Nation (pronounced k-too-nah-ha).

The Lower Kootenay Band or Yaqan Nuʔkiy is one of five communities of the larger Ktunaxa Nation, whose traditional territory includes the Creston Valley and Kootenay Lake area. Yaqan Nuʔkiy means “where the rock stands” referring to an important place in the Creston Valley. The people of Yaqan Nuʔkiy speak the Ktunaxa language, which is one of the eleven original aboriginal language families in Canada, not related to any other language in the world. The people of Yaqan Nuʔkiy settled along the Kootenay River and Kootenay Lake, using the Kootenay Canoe (Yaksumit) to travel up and down the Kootenay River, into the wetlands and Kootenay Lake for all sustenance activities. The canoe was also an important part of the social, ceremonial and religious activities. The Yaksumit is known for its unique design, with its sturgeon nose shape, front and back, the canoe lies flat from stern to stern.

Today the Lower Kootenay Band and Yaqan Nuʔkiy Community continue to play a strong and vital role in the community, with the band operating a number of important local businesses, the Yaqan Nuʔkiy Independent school, and having just opened their beautiful new administrative building, shaped like the Yaksumit. The Creston Valley Tourism Society acknowledges this area as part of the unceded territory of the Ktunaxa people and is grateful for the opportunity to live, play and share these beautiful lands and waterways with our visitors.