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14-647: Westbank reserves were once part of the Okanagan Indian Band until they separated and became an independent band in 1963. 27 years later, in 1990, a framework agreement was entered into which allowed community-based self-government to be negotiated. On May 6, 2004, the Westbank First Nation Self-Government Act received royal assent and became law. WFN self-government officially came into force April 1, 2005. Indigenous self-government in Canada

28-612: Is a member government of the Okanagan Nation Alliance . Current Chief and Council (2023-2025) Chief: Byron Louis. Members of Council: Allan Louis, Val Chiba, Tim Isaac, Rachel Marchand, Mary Jack, Rochelle Saddleman, Viola Brown-Peoples, Donna Goodwater, Floyd Oppenheimer, Raymond Marchand. As of March 2024, the Okanagan Indian Band has a total population 3,244; this includes band members residing on and off reserve. Download coordinates as: Indian Reserves under

42-463: Is an agreement between an Indigenous community and provincial and federal government. It allows the community to make all decisions regarding their people, laws, land, and resources. Following the enactment of self-government, WFN members developed the Westbank First Nation constitution, which sets out how the community is governed and how it exercises its jurisdiction. Some of the other areas

56-562: Is the traditional language of Westbank First Nation. In the entire Okanagan Nation population, there are 6,331 people. 1.3% are fluent speakers, 6.6% are semi-speakers, and 16% are active learners. The nsyilxcən language holds thousands of years of knowledge of the land and contains teachings about natural laws. As syilx/Okanagan people, it is understood that humans are to act as caretakers of nxʷəlxʷəltantət, that which gives us life, including language and land. Westbank First Nation has created nsyilxcən learning resources for anyone wishing to learn

70-530: The City of West Kelowna , while the remaining three reserves are located on the east side of Okanagan Lake. Indian reserves under the jurisdiction of the Westbank First Nation are: Okanagan Indian Band The Okanagan Indian Band ( Okanagan : N̓k̓maplqs ) is a First Nations government in the Canadian province of British Columbia , located in the city of Vernon in the northern Okanagan Valley. The band

84-873: The 2025 school year. The new facility will be a positive place for students to learn their language, culture and traditions. A sense of pride for both the leadership and community. Tolko Industries Ltd. Tolko Industries Ltd. is a privately owned Canadian forest products company based in Vernon, British Columbia . It manufactures and markets specialty forest products to world markets. Tolko's products include lumber , plywood , veneer and oriented strand board . The Company's Woodlands operations in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan have received third-party certification of their sustainable forest management systems . Tolko employs approximately 3000 people across B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan. In February 2018,

98-722: The Okanagan Indian Band began blockading Tolko Industries Ltd. 's access to the Browns Creek watershed to protest logging. The blockade is supported by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs . In 2014, OKIB requested that the defunct Kelowna Pacific Railway be returned to the band. White Rock Lake Wildfire : In the summer of 2021, the Okanagan Indian band was affected by the White Rock Lake wildfire which spanned 833 kilometers, losing 10 homes and one business. Komasket Arbor: In May 2022,

112-457: The Okanagan Indian Band celebrate the reopening of their newly refurbished arbor located at Komasket park, replacing the original arbor built in the 1980's. First Annual Komasket Powwow - In June 2023, Okanagan Indian Band hosted the first annual Komasket Powwow in honor of twi Kel-Ta-Muka, the late Emery Robins Sr. who played an essential role in bringing powwows to the OKIB community in the 1980s. This

126-504: The administration of the band are: Unexploded ordnance (UXO) has littered OKIB land at Madeline Lake and Goose Lake since the Boer War in 1906. Canadian soldiers were trained to fire "live mortars, grenades and other munitions, including white phosphorus". In 2014, over 70 years old live mortars were found; a clean up agreement specifies that beginning in 2015 ten band members will be trained to become UXO technicians. On February 22, 2010

140-483: The company announced it had formed a joint partnership with family-owned Hunt Forest Products to create LaSalle Lumber Company . The two companies will work together to build a $ 115 million, state-of-the-art lumber mill in Urania, Louisiana. This is Tolko's first venture into the U.S. Tolko's access to the Browns Creek watershed has been subject to a blockade by the Okanagan Indian Band since February 22, 2010. The blockade

154-913: The constitution provides for are democratic and legitimate elections and government; internal financial management; accountability to WFN members; conflict of interest rules; law enactment procedures; land rules and referendum procedures. In 2005, following the signing of self-government, the WFN Advisory Council was put in place. The Advisory Council is a five-member council, elected every three years by WFN residents, that meets regularly to review and make recommendations on issues that directly and significantly affect taxpayers such as tax expenditures, proposed laws and proposed amendments to laws. Currently there are approximately 11,000 non-WFN member residents living on WFN lands. Westbank First Nation people are united through their culture, customs, and language, nsyilxcən/nqilxʷcən. nsyilxcən, an Interior Salish language,

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168-437: The language. In the nsyilxcən/nqilxʷcən language, capital letters are not used because it insinuates that someone or something holds more importance than another, and this belief does not fall in line with syilx ethics. Westbank First Nation has a museum which provides a protected place for sqilxʷ culture and heritage while actively working to uplift syilx voices and share about the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of

182-411: The syilx people. The museum does guided tours and shares stories of the land with all who are interested in learning. sncəwips is the nsyilxcən word that translates to  ‘a conversation with an ancestor’. Westbank First Nation's land base totals 5,340 acres, separated into five land parcels. Westbank First Nation's two populated reserves border the westside of Okanagan Lake and are located adjacent to

196-518: Was the first powwow held in the newly reconstructed arbor, and the first in the OKIB community in several years. In 2023, OKIB held a ground breaking ceremony for a new Cultural Immersion School underway. – nk̓maplqs iʔ snm̓am̓ay̓ʔtn iʔ k̓l sqilxʷtət. The immersion was founded in September of 2006, with the intent of cultivating a sense of cultural identity and language revitalization for generation to come. A brand new facility scheduled for completion for

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