kʷu tl təmxʷulaʔxʷ

Healing starts with us

Join us for a 2 km Walk for Reconciliation on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation! We will be departing from the Safeway Parking lot and making our way to the SIRS Monument outside the Penticton Hatchery on En’owkin Trail.

Please Note: Please attend walk at your own risk, the ONA is not responsible as this is a public event. We will have lunch at the monument but priority will be given to Syilx IRS Survivors, Syilx elders and nation members.

Walk is open to everyone. Remember to wear your orange, blue, or green shirts!

The Okanagan Nation Alliance would like to welcome Syilx Nation Members to join us for the xʷəxʷmínaʔ (Trout) Fishery. We will be fishing for rainbow trout and bull trout and connecting with our tmxʷulaxʷ (land) and siwɬkʷ (water).

Location: The fishery will occur at the Lardeau River outlet, near the bridge at the southern end of Trout Lake near Gerrard, BC.

Time: Fishery to start at sunrise and run throughout the day and weekend. Camping on-site is encouraged!

Open to all Syilx Nation Members | Travel Support Available

We welcome any Syilx Nation members who would like to participate in this food fishery to please find contact information below. ONA Fisheries will be on-site with rods and reels.

For more Info About The Fishery: Ross Zeleznik, Fisheries Biologist at rzeleznik@syilx.org or 250-365-0340 

For more Info About Travel Support: Raven Mikuletic, Communications Coordinator at rmikuletic@syilx.org or 250-707-0095 ext. 121

Strengthening Our Truth

Okanagan Nation Alliance will be hosting captikʷl Forums this year, in partnership with the En’owkin Centre. The captikʷł forums are held for insight and community engagement in examining Syilx captikʷł, how lessons from the captikʷł connect with our modern way of living, and how to integrate Syilx values and principles within captikʷł in Policy & Planning.

captikʷł are a collection of teachings about Syilx Okanagan laws, customs, values, governance structures and principles that, together, define and inform Syilx Okanagan rights and responsibilities to the land and to our culture.

Open to Syilx Nation Members only.

ɬə txətʼntiməlx mnimɬcəlx kʷu ks txətʼntimʼ

The Four Food Chiefs Gathering is an annual gathering of Syilx Nation members. This event focuses on information sharing, utilizing the enowkinwixw model through our Four Food Chiefs.

Join us for a two-day gathering featuring workshops, presentations, keynotes, and activities focused on connecting with the land and water, promoting well-being and self-care, along with cultural activities!

puti kʷu‿alaʔ

The Syilx Indian Residential School (SIRS) Committee at the ONA holds an annual gathering for Syilx Okanagan residential school survivors, intergenerational survivors, and other family members to share stories, support each other, and participate in healing together.

Residential schools were extremely disruptive to Syilx Okanagan relationships. Families were separated and roles were forgotten, connections were lost, and sharing of culture between generations was disrupted. This event will be 2 days of working on our relationships with each other and with ourselves.  Through various workshops, ceremony, and food, this event will bring survivors and Nation members together to heal and work towards a stronger, healthier Nation.

Open to Syilx Okanagan Nation Members & Community Members

Calling Syilx Grandmothers who are passionate about working with children and families to reclaim and restore Syilx family ways of being.

This event is an opportunity for Grandmothers within the Syilx Okanagan Nation to gather and focus on familial roles, Nation needs, and traditional models of child-raising in today’s world.  Grandmothers will identify training and capacity needs within the Nation, define and reclaim family roles and responsibilities, and connect with one another.

Syilx Grandmothers have an inherent role and responsibility to strengthen/teach the practice of Syilx traditions, culture and language. Following Phase II, and Phase IV of the Grandmothers Group Strategy, this event includes Nation and community relationship development and initial steps to the development of a Grandmothers Group Work Plan.

Open to all Syilx Nation Grandmothers | Spaces are limited

Join our Celebration and Honour the Sacredness of the River

It is one of the goals of the Syilx Okanagan Nation to carry on the work of the people’s ancestors and Elders who taught the importance of preserving and revitalizing the traditions, customs, and language of the Syilx people. The Salmon Feast honours the sacredness of the river at sx̌ʷəx̌ʷnitkʷ (Okanagan Falls), which is a culturally significant site for the Syilx Okanagan People, and an important traditional fishing camp, gathering place and trading site. The Salmon Feast is a three-day event that involves multiple activities including: ceremonies, a canoe paddle, and on Sunday a salmon feast and ceremony for snx̌aʔiwləm (to honour the sacredness of the river).

The Annual  Salmon Feast is an essential practice in the continued organized efforts of the Okanagan Nation Alliance and member communities to raise the importance of the habitat protection and rehabilitation of local ecosystems, watersheds, and renew connections and relationships between all residents of the Region with water and fish. It is vitally important that we honour the salmon so they will always come back to feed the people.

The 2024 Salmon Feast was proudly sponsored by:

ONA Salmon Feast Artwork Gallery