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30-450: The people of the seven tribes all have ties to the Syilx tribe whose ancestral territory spanned British Columbia as well as Washington state. The Syilx have their own spoken language, nsyilxcən , which is considered to be endangered, due to the small number of fluent speakers living today. It is a Salishan language and its use declined severely after assimilation due to colonization in

60-585: Is that the ancestral language of the Okanagan people is taught on campus, allowing the language to be passed onto future generations. The alliance is overseen by each of the bands' current chiefs. They are known as the Chief Executive Council or CEC. The purpose of the CEC is to assert Syilx Okanagan Nation Sovereignty as well as to address the interests of the people. The current elected leader of

90-749: The Nicola Valley , which was at the northwestern perimeter of Okanagan territory, are known in their dialect as the Spaxomin , and are joint members in a historic alliance with neighbouring communities of the Nlaka'pamux in the region known as the Nicola Country , which is named after the 19th-century chief who founded the alliance, Nicola . This alliance today is manifested in the Nicola Tribal Association . The language of

120-689: The Okanagan Country region. They are part of the Interior Salish ethnological and linguistic grouping. The Okanagan are closely related to the Spokan , Sinixt , Nez Perce , Pend Oreille , Secwepemc and Nlaka'pamux peoples of the same Northwest Plateau region . At the height of Okanagan Syilx culture, about 3000 years ago, it is estimated that 12,000 people lived in this valley and surrounding areas. The Syilx employed an adaptive strategy, moving within traditional areas throughout

150-791: The Okanagan valley , and some of the uppermost valley of the Nicola River . The various Syilx communities in British Columbia and Washington form the Okanagan Nation Alliance , a border-spanning organization which includes American-side Syilx residents in the Colville Indian Reservation , where the Syilx are sometimes known as Colvilles. The Upper Nicola Indian Band , a Syilx group of

180-744: The Order of British Columbia in 2004 and the Order of Canada in 2016. Louie was born near Oliver and raised on the Osoyoos reserve by a single mother. Due to high unemployment, many adults in the community had to work as transient labourers on fruit orchards in nearby Washington state . Louie was forced to be self-sufficient during his childhood years. At age 19, he left British Columbia and enrolled in First Nations University in Regina, Saskatchewan . He then studied native studies at

210-883: The University of Lethbridge in Alberta . After receiving his degree, he returned to the Okanagan. At 24 years of age, Louie was elected as chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band. The band has 460 members, and controls 32,000 acres (13,000 ha) of land. He started the Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corporation (OIBDC) in 1988. Through the corporation's efforts, the previously impoverished band started or acquired nine businesses, including tourism, construction, and recreation companies. The band now employs 700 people including non-First Nations. A high-profile business started by

240-1041: The 19th century. The Alliance consists of seven different bands spanning across British Columbia as well as some of Washington. The alliance is tied among the Okanagan Indian Band , the Westbank First Nation , the Lower Similkameen Indian Band , the Upper Similkameen Indian Band , the Osoyoos Indian Band , the Penticton Indian Band , the Upper Nicola Indian Band , and the Colville Confederated Tribes . The people of

270-539: The CEC is the Osoyoos band chief, Clarence Louie . The CEC generally meets each month for a standard meeting, but in July, each year, they meet for their annual general assembly meeting. A recent revitalization of Syilx culture, language, and land rights occurred in 2018. The chief executive of the Okanagan Nation Alliance called for this revitalization across all the bands included in the alliance. This

300-579: The Joint Indian Reserve Commission allotted several different tracks of land to which the Syilx Okanagan people would have reservations. These reservations were changed, land size decreased, and all done without the consent of the Syilx Okanagan. The natives of British Columbia would not stand being forced onto smaller reservation lands in comparison to their vast ancestral lands. In 1910, interior tribes gathered to sign

330-529: The Nicola Valley. There are currently 980 enrolled members in the band and the current chief is Harvey McLeod. The Colville Confederated Tribes' lands cover 2.83 million acres of reserve land and consist of a single reservation. They are the only Syilx Okanagan people to be located in the United States, specifically Washington State. There are currently 9,520 enrolled members within the tribes and

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360-623: The OIBDC during Louie's tenure is Nk'Mip Cellars, the first aboriginal-owned winery in North America. Louie has served 10 terms as of 2012, winning every election but one since 1985. He consulted with federal finance minister Jim Flaherty in 2008 on matters of economic development. He is a two-term chair of the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board. In 2003, Louie was chosen by

390-524: The Okanagan Nation Alliance adopted and signed their first legal declaration, written in English as well as their own Syilx language. The document was signed by all chiefs and council members of the eight tribes and ends with the promise to protect the Earth and its resources forever. The Okanagan Nation Alliance offers several education programs at the University of British Columbia Okanagan . This university

420-415: The Okanagan Nation Alliance refer to themselves as Syilx Okanagan people and have been around since pre-contact with Europeans. The Syilx Okanagan lived in a self-reliant, economically stable civilization before contact, and hunted, fished, gathered, and grew across their entire territory, creating a sustainable economy that was self-sufficient for the people pre-contact. Colonization in the 1800s resulted in

450-533: The Okanagan Valley ecosystem, and the Syilx people strive to keep its population abundant. The Okanagan Indian Band's lands cover 11,282 hectares of reserve land and consist of seven reservations. The lands are located in British Columbia and is the most Northern of the bands in the Okanagan Nation Alliance. Currently, there are roughly 2,030 enrolled members of the band and the current chief of

480-431: The Okanagan band and reside in the southern part of the Okanagan Valley in the region of British Columbia. There are currently 922 enrolled members in the band and the current chief is Greg Gabriel. The Upper Nicola Indian Band's lands cover roughly 30,848 acres of reserve land and consist of eight reservations. They are located in the Nicola Valley in the region of British Columbia. They are the only Syilx Okanagan tribe in

510-576: The Okanagan is Byron Louis. The Westbank First Nation's lands cover 5,340 acres of reserve land and consist of five reservations. Located in British Columbia, they border the Okanagan band to the North. Currently the Nation has about 855 enrolled members and the current chief of the Nation is Christopher Derickson. The Lower Similkameen Indian Band's lands cover approximately 15,048 hectares of reserve land and consist of eleven reservations. They are located in

540-543: The Okinagan (Syilx) numbered around 3,000 people. Clarence Louie Clarence Louie CM OBC (born 1959/1960) is a Canadian First Nations leader and businessman. Louie has been the chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band in British Columbia 's Okanagan for ten terms, the first beginning in 1985. He has been credited with contributing to the economic success of the small community, and has received regional, national, and international recognition, including

570-591: The Sir Wilfrid Laurier Memorial Declaration in hope to regain certain land rights and dispute the rights of First Nation peoples as a whole. Indian peoples were able to live on their reservations for many years, but in 1969, reservations were under political attack by Canada, when they sought to obtain reservation lands in the hopes to assimilate all First Nation peoples with their White-Paper policy. This policy did not take hold, and tribes retained their reservation lands. In 1987,

600-600: The Syilx Okanagan lands to be split by the creation of the 49th parallel and the formation of the Canadian-U.S. border in 1846. This border split the tribe in both a geographical and legal manner. Seven of the eight tribes remained in the north in Canada, but the Colville Confederated Tribes, whose lands cover Washington state in the U.S. were separated from their Syilx people. Between 1877 and 1893

630-537: The Syilx people is Nsyilxcn. "Syilx" is at the root of the language name Nsyilxcn, surrounded by a circumfix indicating a language. When writing Nsyilxcn, no capital letters are used. Nsyilxcn is an Interior Salish language that is spoken across the Canada–United States border in the regions of southern British Columbia and northern Washington. This language is currently endangered and has only 50 fluent speakers remaining. According to James Teit in year 1780

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660-776: The Syilx, whose communities remain in Canada. The Okanagan Tribal Alliance, however, incorporates the American branch of the Syilx. The latter are part of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville , a multi-tribal government in Washington state. The bounds of Syilx territory are roughly the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Okanagan River , plus the basin of the Similkameen River to the west of

690-541: The band and the current chief is Bonnie Jacobsen. The Osoyoos Indian Band's lands cover about 32,000 acres covering a single Osoyoos reservation. They are located in the region of British Columbia and are located just north of the Canada-U.S. border. There are currently about 600 enrolled members in the band and the current chief is Clarence Louie . The Penticton Indian Band's lands cover about 46,000 acres and consist of three reservations. They are located directly west of

720-541: The chairman of the confederated tribes is Andrew Joseph Jr. The Okanagan Nation Alliance has five declarations: Syilx The Syilx ( Salishan pronunciation: [sjilx] ) people, also known as the Okanagan , Suknaqinx , or Okinagan people, are a First Nations and Native American people whose traditional territory spans the Canada–US boundary in Washington state and unceded British Columbia in

750-403: The poor market food provided to them since the species' decline. The decline in the population of traditional food sources sparked support for revitalization of traditional cultural responsibilities to their lands, waters, as well as their food resources. To the Syilx, Salmon is more than just food, it was a relative that connected their people from generation to generation. The salmon is central to

780-476: The region of British Columbia and cover the area of Keremeos. The current enrolled member count is about 500 and the current chief of the band is Keith Crow. The Upper Similkameen Indian Band's lands cover roughly 2726 hectares of reserve land and consist of eight reservations. They are located in the Similkameen Valley north of the Canada-U.S. border. There are currently about 200 enrolled members in

810-464: The revitalization of Syilx culture. The most central food to the ancient Syilx people was the Sockeye Salmon. European colonization and overfishing drastically reduced the population of the species in the Okanagan valley, and there have been extreme efforts to improve the population of the salmon since 1990. As such, the indigenous people of the Okanagan valley have sought food sovereignty from

840-528: The year to fish, hunt, or collect food, while in the winter months, they lived in semi-permanent villages of kekulis , a type of pithouse. In Nsyilxcn pit house is q̓ʷc̓iʔ. When the Oregon Treaty partitioned the Pacific Northwest in 1846, the portion of the tribe remaining in what became Washington Territory reorganized under Chief Tonasket as a separate group from the majority of

870-540: Was a call to action for all Syilx people to band together in order to form a constitution in order to preserve the Syilx ways as well as legitimize their changes in government systems. It would also protect the territory of the Syilx people without having a constant battle with the Canadian government. This advocacy has been coined by the people as Syilx Nation Rising! Several members of the nation were encouraged to make videos, messages, or just share their voice in support of

900-512: Was founded in partnership with the Syilx Okanagan people in September 2005. It offers several different degrees under nine different programs: Arts and Social Sciences, Creative and Critical Studies, Education, Engineering, Health and Social Development, Management, Medicine, Science, and Graduate Studies. The Graduate program allows students to develop their own path and find their own unique research opportunities. One unique aspect of UBC Okanagan

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