Wellness

To support a holistic approach to health and social development which will promote self-sufficient Okanagan Nation communities by integrating our traditional and cultural approaches to community wellness.

– ONA Wellness Mandate

For Syilx People, Wellness is holistic and interconnected. Under the mandate of the Chiefs’ Executive Council (CEC) and the guidance of the ONA Wellness Committee the ONA continues to work towards and support the safety, health and well-being of our children, families, communities and land.

The ONA Wellness team continually develops and enhances the services and programs offered to our communities. In addition to the direct services/programs offered, the Wellness team builds individual and community capacity, provides training opportunities and facilitates resource development and sharing within and between the team and the member communities.

ONA strives to provide quality services using a holistic, integrated approach with a Quality Assurance model. The Wellness Committee has developed four strategic priorities, which help to inform some guiding principles.

Strategic Priorities
1. Mental Wellness & Substance Misuse
2. Increase Access to Primary Care
3. Elders Care
4. Children & Youth

These strategies help to inform some guiding principles in the Wellness team approach and delivery of initiatives and programs. The Wellness principles include traditional wellness, improving health governance and relationship building, capacity building, and funding sustainability.

ONA Wellness continues to work toward implementing the Chiefs’ Executive Council (CEC) Business Plan priorities:

  • To improve the health, well-being, safety and quality of life of Okanagan Nation community members
  • Implement Syilx law into governance and operations planning, and
  • Preservation of Syilx laws, culture, language and education
Syilx Wellness Booklet_November 2022

Project Highlights

Early Years Gathering

I? scmala?tet The Early Years Gathering provides opportunity for Aboriginal Early Childhood professionals to engage in a manner that can contribute to capacity building and resource…

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Syilx Indian Residential School Monument

The Syilx Indian Residential School Monument is dedicated to all Syilx (Okanagan) people who went to Indian Residential School, especially to those who did not make it home. On November 28, 2017, the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) unveiled the Syilx Okanagan Indian Residential School Monument. The Monument houses a series of five educational panels and a […]

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