LISTEN | Full CBC Radio interview with Okanagan Indian Band Chief Dan Wilson
tx̌axetq̓enʔ (Tahaetkun Mountain), Syilx Okanagan Territory: The Okanagan Indian Band’s (OKIB) call for watershed protection has received strong support from First Nations leadership across the province.
OKIB’s resolution to protect Syilx watersheds received unanimous support at the recent UBCIC Annual General Assembly. This decision reinforces our shared responsibility to protect Browns Creek and Whiteman Creek for our people and future generations. Resolution no. 2025-63: Opposition to Mining in Okanagan Indian Band Watersheds and Protection of syilx Water, Salmon, and Sacred Sites calls for the protection of the Browns Creek and Whiteman Creek watersheds from proposed mining activity by Ximen Mining Corporation.
“Water is life. It sustains everything around us and connects us to the generations before and after our own,” said OKIB Chief Dan Wilson.
“The decision by the UBCIC to support this resolution shows that First Nations across the province stand together in defense of our lands and waters. This is about protecting the health of our people, our salmon, and our future.”
READ | Full Article on IndigiNews
READ | Full Article on Castanet
READ | Full Article on Vernon Matters
READ | Full Article on National Indigenous Times
“We are the unconquered aboriginal people of this land, our mother; The creator has given us our mother, to enjoy, to manage and to protect; we, the first inhabitants, have lived with our mother from time immemorial; our Okanagan governments have allowed us to share equally in the resources of our mother; we have never given up our rights to our mother, our mother’s resources, our governments and our religion; we will survive and continue to govern our mother and her resources for the good of all for all time.” – Okanagan Nation Declaration, 1987