News

Restoration of kiɁlawnaɁ (Grizzly Bear) to the US North Cascades Ecosystem

October 6th, 2023

Syilx Okanagan Nation Commend the Biden Administration for release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement to Restore kiɁlawnaɁ (Grizzly Bear) to the US North Cascades Ecosystem

It is with much anticipation and hope, of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, that with the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement to restore kiɁlawnaɁ to the North Cascades that we will be able to collaborate and move forward to restore grizzly bear populations to this transboundary ecosystem together. We acknowledge the work of the US Department of Interior, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US National Park Service to launch a public review of this statement which outlines the options for restoration.

kiɁlawnaɁ has been an integral part of Syilx culture and an important indicator of the health and well-being of the land and Syilx people, since time immemorial. “Only within the last 150 years have kiɁlawnaɁ been absent from the North Cascades landscape- a result of persecution and overhunting by settlers. Much like our people, the tmixʷ (all living things) are resilient. The kiɁlawnaɁ, is a part of who we are, our nation has worked tirelessly to restore salmon, and now we continue the journey to bring kiɁlawnaɁ home to the North Cascades,” stated Chief Clarence Louie, Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) Tribal Chairman.

In 2014, the Syilx Nation declared kiɁlawnaɁ protected across Syilx Territory, and mandated the ONA to take action to restore and protect endangered populations, including the North Cascades. ONA has since led recovery and stewardship planning efforts, in partnership with neighbouring Nations, the BC Ministries of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship and Forests, BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and supporting ENGOs. Just as the Syilx Okanagan Territory is transboundary, the North Cascades is a transboundary population and thus requires coordinated efforts on both sides of the Canada-US border. In the fall of 2022, the Syilx Okanagan Nation called on the US Government to relaunch the recovery planning efforts in the US portion of the North Cascades. It is with great pleasure that we learn of this relaunch of the EIS, and re-confirm our commitment to bringing kiɁlawnaɁ  home to the North Cascades.

Syilx Nation Natural Resources Chair, Jordan Coble also added, “The announcement of the EIS review process in the US marks an important moment in time for recovery efforts on both sides of the border. Many decades of work, by many committed people have led us to where we are now. From the Syilx Nation’s perspective, our partnership with BC on this work is a demonstration of implementing DRIPA in its’ purest form- we are collectively righting a wrong, and returning kiɁlawnaɁ to an ecosystem that depends on their presence.”

We look forward to continued work with our many BC and US partners to restore and protect grizzly bears in the North Cascades. Through the Joint Nations Grizzly Bear Initiative we continue to advance work towards restoration of the North Cascades population in many ways, including the development of a Stewardship Strategy which contains the necessary steps to advance recovery, as per the BC Auditor General’s 2017 recommendations and referenced in BC’s Provincial grizzly bear strategy.

The ONA is committed to conserve, manage, co-manage the wildlife, lands and waters of the Nation’s territory. In doing so, the Nation will be true to its spiritual and environmental values, mindful of the cultural and social needs and aspirations of its individual bands, and strong in its assertion of the Nation’s rights and title to its entire area of occupancy and use.

For more information please contact:
ki law na (Chief Clarence Louie), ONA Tribal Chair                    Cailyn Glasser, ONA Natural Resource Manager
T:  1-250-498-9132                                                                          T: 1-250-469-1595

Media Release: Restoration of kiɁlawnaɁ (Grizzly Bear) to the US North Cascades Ecosystem


2023 Syilx Siya Awards For High School Graduates of 2022/2023 Recipients!

August 23rd, 2023

Congratulations to the Recipients of the 2023 Syilx Siya Awards For High School Graduates of 2022/2023 The Syilx Siya Bursary is awarded to 3 Syilx Okanagan high school graduates who have demonstrated a willingness to dream big for themselves, their Nation, their community, and/or their family. Award recipients will have educational goals and the drive […]

Okanagan Lake (Penticton Dam) PIT Array Installation

August 4th, 2023

The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) is installing a Passive Integrated Technology (PIT) antenna array, contributing to the network of four current mainstem Okanagan River arrays and four tributary arrays within the Canadian portion of the Okanagan Valley. These arrays provide invaluable data to fisheries and resource managers regarding the migrations of anadromous salmonids (Sockeye, Chinook, […]

Agreements address Columbia River Treaty impacts on Indigenous Nations

June 9th, 2023

The Ktunaxa, Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations and their members will benefit from new interim agreements that share revenue generated from the Columbia River Treaty. Read Full Article Here Through the three separate interim agreements, the Ktunaxa Nation, Secwépemc Nation and Syilx Okanagan Nation will each receive 5% of the revenue generated through the sale […]

Syilx Okanagan Nation Extend Range of Salmon Reintroduction Efforts on kłusxnitkw Tributaries, Including Lower Vernon Creek

May 8th, 2023

What: The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) are honoured to announce that our efforts on reintroducing sc’win (Okanagan sockeye salmon) on Syilx territory will extend to multiple other tributaries that feed into kłusxnitkw (Okanagan Lake) over the 2023 season. This work is a continuation of the Syilx Nation commitment to our responsibilities of restoring and reintroducing […]

Years of Syilx Okanagan Nation Actions Bring Awareness to the Protection of the Last Remaining styiɬcʼʔ (Caribou)

April 15th, 2023

tkwəɬniwt (Westbank), Syilx Territory: The Syilx Okanagan Nation acknowledge recent actions taken by the BC Government and Parks Canada to relocate the last remaining styiɬcʼʔ from the Columbia South herd to the Central Selkirks maternity pen. For years Syilx Okanagan Nation leadership has prioritized the protection of styiɬcʼʔ as a critical part of Syilx Okanagan Title, […]

Calling All Anglers To Report Catching Northern Pike In The Columbia River

April 13th, 2023

snɬuxwqnm (Castlegar), Syilx Territory: The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) is calling all anglers to support suppression efforts of Northern Pike. We request that all anglers catching Northern Pike in the nx̌ʷntk’ʷitkʷ (Columbia River), including the Pend d’Oreille, Kootenay, Columbia and Kettle Rivers report these catches to Ross Zeleznik, ONA Fisheries Biologist, Castlegar Office Phone: 250-687-0340 […]

Osoyoos Indian Band Historic Reserve Celebration

April 13th, 2023

An invitation goes out to all Syilx Nation members to gather and celebrate the purchase of this important cultural and salmon fishing site that was previously taken from us. The celebration will take place on April 14 at 11:30 am at 5444 Hawthorne Place, Okanagan Falls. Because of the cultural and historic significance of this […]

yilíkʷlxkn (Bighorn Sheep) Diseases

March 29th, 2023

yilíkʷlxkn in the southern Okanagan region have been experiencing a steady population decline. This decline is theorized to be due in part to infection by pneumonia or Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi), psoroptes (Psoroptes cuniculi) mites and Bluetongue contributing to overall poor yilíkʷlxkn health. The widespread reduction of available and suitable ranges, and increased human pressure […]

ONA ‘Fish in Schools’ Program Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary

January 17th, 2023

tkwəɬniwt (Westbank), Syilx Territory: This last week the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) celebrated the 20th year of the Fish in Schools (FinS) program by delivering a final round of the fish tanks and equipment to 50 schools and institutions throughout Syilx territory. Over the last 20 years the program has rippled out to Band, Public, […]

Sockeye Run Makes Historic Returns to Tributaries on kłusxnitkw (Okanagan Lake)

October 31st, 2022

tkwəɬniwt (Westbank), Syilx Territory: The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) are honoured to announce the return of sc’win (Sockeye Salmon) back to many of the tributaries that feed into kłusxnitkw over the 2022 season. Since 2019 ONA has worked to achieve salmon passage at Okanagan Dam in Penticton. The importance of returning sc’win to kłusxnitkw is […]

Osoyoos Indian Band Reacts to Community Safety Unit Raid of Local Business

October 22nd, 2022

OSOYOOS, BRITISH COLUMBIA (October 21, 2022) – The Osoyoos Indian Band (“OIB”) and Okanagan Nation Alliance (“ONA”) are outraged at the conduct of the Community Safety Unit in raiding a local business without the OIB’s consent. On October 19, 2022, after previously assuring OIB’s Chief and Council that they would not enter OIB lands without […]

Syilx Okanagan Nation Annual Gathering Raises Awareness About Violence and Systemic Racism Regarding Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls Two-Spirit+ and Kin

October 5th, 2022

tkwəɬniwt (Westbank), Syilx Territory: From October 5-6, 2022, the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) will host the 4th Annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit+ Gathering. This event supports our Nation members to come together in solidarity, share stories and experience, and take action to ensure women, girls, two-spirit plus and kin are safe […]

Open Letter for a Public Inquiry into the Ministry of Children and Family Services following the Fraud and Thefts of Robert R. Saunders

October 3rd, 2022

We are writing this letter on behalf of the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) Chief’s Executive Council (CEC) in regards to Child Protection and Resource worker Robert Riley Saunders (Saunders). Saunders had spent over a decade stealing support services funding from mostly indigenous youth in foster care with the use of a falsified Social Work degree. […]

Syilx Okanagan Nation Demand Justice on National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

September 29th, 2022

tkwəɬniwt (Westbank), Syilx Territory: On September 30, 2022, starting at 10 am, the Syilx Okanagan Nation will host a 5 kilometer “Walk for the Children”. This takes place on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the walk will go from the Penticton Peach at Okanagan Lake and move to the Syilx Indian Residential School […]

Syilx Okanagan Nation’s Salmon Feast Celebrates the Sacredness of the River at Traditional Fishing Camp sx̌ʷəx̌ʷnitk

September 16th, 2022

sx̌ʷəx̌ʷnitkʷ, Syilx Okanagan Territory: From September 16-18, 2022, Elders, Traditional Knowledge Keepers, youth and community members from across the Syilx Okanagan Nation will gather at sx̌ʷəx̌ʷnitkʷ (Okanagan Falls), a culturally significant site that was formally a part of the Osoyoos Indian Reserve, to take part in the annual Salmon Feast. This year’s gathering is particularly significant due to […]

Okanagan Nation Alliance’s Co-Publication Wins 2021 Mercer Patriarche Best Paper in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management

August 24th, 2022

tkwəɬniwt (Westbank), Syilx Territory: The Okanagan Nation Alliance is honoured to announce that their co-authored publication “Age-Structured Interactions among Reintroduced Sockeye Salmon, Resident Kokanee, Invasive Mysids, and their Zooplankton Prey in Skaha Lake, British Columbia” was selected by the American Fisheries Society as the best publication for 2021 in the North American Journal of Fisheries […]

Building a Better Future Bursary Receipents

August 11th, 2022

The ability of Syilx students to access post-secondary education is central to our Nation moving forward and our voices being heard. This year the Okanagan Nation Alliance, Fortis BC and EMB Management Ltd. provided a total of 12 awards to financially support eligible Syilx Okanagan Nation students. The Building a Better Future Bursary has been […]

In the Face of Continued Colonial Practices, Syilx Okanagan Nation Sign the axá iʔ sccuntət iʔ tl x̌aʔxítət x̌l iʔ nəqsil̓tət (Family Declaration) at Annual General Assembly to Protect Children and Families

July 28th, 2022

snkx̌ykntn (Revelstoke), Syilx Territory:  From July 26 – 28, 2022, the Okanagan Nation Alliance hosted our Annual General Assembly in snkx̌ykntn. This annual event gathered Syilx Okanagan members from across the Nation — including leaders, Elders, traditional knowledge keepers, youth and community members — to celebrate the many successes that have taken place for Syilx […]

Okanagan sc’win (sockeye) Information and Updates

July 13th, 2022

Based on harvest information gathered since 2008, we are estimating a higher than average number of sc’win (sockeye salmon) to return to the Columbia watershed (and thus Okanagan subbasin) for the 2022 season. Returns of sc’win are monitored by tracking the numbers of fish that go through various dams and sites on the Columbia River. […]

Okanagan Nation Alliance and EMB Management Ltd. Announce Annual Commitment to ONA’s “Building a Better Future Bursary” Program

May 29th, 2022

tkwəɬniwt (Westbank), Syilx Territory: The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) is pleased to announce that EMB Management Ltd’s has committed $10,000 annually to the ONA’s Building a Better Future Bursary Program. This program assists Syilx students in their pursuit of education. This announcement demonstrates the power of supporting First Nations students. “We will build and maintain […]

Syilx Okanagan Nation Demands Justice for Victims One Year After Remains of 215 Children Unearthed at Kamloops Indian Residential School

May 23rd, 2022

tkwəɬniwt (Westbank), Syilx Territory: On May 27, 2022, the Syilx Okanagan Nation recognizes the one-year anniversary of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc announcing the unearthing of 215 remains at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Children from across many First Nations, including the Syilx Okanagan Nation, attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School, and this revelation is felt by […]