The Syilx Okanagan Nation Photography by Melissa Fowler |
The First Nations People of Osoyoos are part of the Syilx Okanagan Nation which is made up of eight communities in the interior of British Columbia and in the United States. These communities include: Okanagan Indian Band, Upper Nicola Band, Westbank First Nation, Penticton Indian Band, Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB), and Lower and Upper Similkameen Indian Bands and the Colville Confederated Tribes in northern Washington State. Over 500 band members live and work on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve – 13,000 hectares of Sonoran Desert landscape stretching from Oliver to Osoyoos that reflects a small portion of their once vast traditional lands. Thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, the Osoyoos Indian Band’s ancestors used the current sẁiẁs meaning ‘narrowing of the waters’ Provincial Park as a crossing and as a cultural and living site. Ancestral remains found at sẁiẁs have been dated as 1,224 years old – the oldest on record in the Osoyoos region.
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Okanagan First Nations once travelled widely for fishing, gathering and hunting and each year, the first harvests of roots, berries, fish and game were celebrated by ceremonies honouring the food chiefs who provided for the people. In the winter, people returned to permanent winter villages. At the height of Syilx culture, about 3,000 years ago, it is estimated that 12,000 people lived in the Okanagan valley and surrounding areas. Radiocarbon dating of animal materials and disposed shells give valuable insights into the Osoyoos Indian Band’s ancestors and confirmed they lived, travelled and traded on routes extending along the Columbia River Basin as far back as 3,265 – 4,475 years ago. The names of many familiar towns throughout the Okanagan Valley come from Indigenous languages. This includes Osoyoos, Keremeos, Penticton and Kelowna reflecting the long history of the Syilx people on this land.
Photography by Sapphire LeCamp from the Osoyoos Indian Band, a Grade 7 student from Senpaq’cin school
