SENK’LIP NEWS April - 2016 EDITION - OKANAGAN INDIAN BAND 12420 WESTSIDE ROAD VERNON, BC V1H 2A4 - FREE
Photographed on March 12, 2016 from left to right: Back row - David White (Instructor), Keanu Louie, Maria Alexis, Sienna Belanger-Lee, Aaron Edwards, Delaney Marchand, Shelby Richard and Mario Richard. Front Row - Liam Marchand, Emmarie Louis, McKayla Bonneau, Serena Apsassin and Devon Gregoire-Gabriel.
OKIB Youth Earn Yellow Belts The OKIB hosts Taekwondo classes every Monday and Wednesday at the Head of the Lake Hall. The Taekowndo program began in September and will end in June; classes run from 4:00pm to 5:00pm. After 19 classes and lots of hard work, 11 dedicated OKIB youth have succeeded in earning their first belt in a martial art. SENK’LIP NEWS Editor: Shaylen Smith
Ph: 250-542-4328 Fx: 250-542-4990 shaylen.smith@okanagan.org
Chief: Byron Louis Councillors: Homer Alexis, Lyle Brewer, Barbara (June) Cole, Tim Isaac, Allan Louis, Coola Louis, Dan Wilson, Raymond Marchand, Russell Williams and Leland Wilson
Liam Marchand and Emmarie Louis received their yellow stripes and the rest of the group received their yellow belt. for youth, artists, athletes, and elders to be interviewed for upcoming issues of the Senk’ lip.
The program is open to youth between the ages of 6 -17 years. Anyone interested in finding out more information about bussing, or to register can call Mario Richard, OKIB Youth Worker at 250-542-5094.
Please send the following information in an email, or drop off at the band office: First & Last Name Suggested focus/topic for the story (talent, knowledge, history, skills) How to contact the person (phone, email, or address) Emails can be sent to shaylen.smith@okanagan.org
Community
Page 2 Okanagan Indian Band Important Numbers CUT AND PLACE ON YOUR FRIDGE! EMERGENCY NUMBERS:
Council Meetings Schedule Regular Scheduled Meetings First Tuesday of the Month:
Emergency OKIB Volunteer Fire Dept. Water Buildings
911 250-545-4111 250-308-8075 250-306-1363
Main Band Office Toll Free Administration Education/Training Human Resources Membership Finance
250-542-4328 1-866-542-4328
Health Social Development and Training Head of the Lake Hall New Horizons Snc’c’amalta?tn Daycare and School Cultural Immersion School Public Works and Housing/Lands Territorial Stewardship/Research
250-542-5094 250-558-3706 250-558-1414 250-545-2402 250-545-3800 250-260-3616 250-542-3444 250-542-7132
9:00am to 4:00pm
Second Tuesday of the Month: 5:30pm to 9:30pm Third Tuesday of the Month:
9:00am to 4:00pm
Changes to the schedule and community meetings/emergency meetings will be communicated to the membership in the following ways: www.okib.ca www.facebook.com/OkanaganBand www.twitter.com/OkanaganBand Process All requests to be added to the Chief and Council’s agenda must be submitted to the Executive Director by Wednesday at 4:30pm the week before the next meeting. Agenda items are reviewed and approved by the Executive Director and Chief on Thursday afternoon. Contact Stacy Yow, Executive Assistant to Council: 250-542-4328 ext. 210, or by email at stacy.yow@okanagan.org
OKIB members, if you have moved, please update your address with the Band Office. Members who sign up for the Senk’lip will receive the other important mail outs including: community engagement information and annual/quarterly reports. Call the band office, or email okibadmin@okanagan.org to sign up.
APRIL CALENDAR
APRIL CALENDAR
Culture & Language The 7th Annual Okanagan Band School Conference was held February 18 and 19, 2016. The Penticton Indian Band and Outma Sqilxw Cultural School hosted the event. This year’s theme was “Language is Our Breath.” Keynote speakers included Dr. Jeanette Armstrong, Dr. Kathryn Michele, and Arnold Baptiste. Teachers and staff from OKIB Immersion School and Snc’c’amalat?n attended the conference. Here is an update from one of the Education Assistants from the Immersion School: “Going to the 7th Annual Band Conference was a very rewarding experience. I attended five interesting sessions: 1. How our Brains Learn From Birth to Adult 2. We Cook We Visit We Learn 3. Utilizing Technology and Electronic Resources to Enhance Teaching of Language 4. Language Games in the Classroom 5. Learning on the Land from the Land I was glad to see so much support all around for the chil-
Williams Lake to Host 40th Annual Elders Gathering The Tl’etinqox (Anaham) Government is hosting the Elders Gathering under the theme: River Unity, River Spirit – “Keepers of the land and water” at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Centre and Thompson Rivers University from July 12 – 14, 2016. This year’s event kicks off in true Cariboo style with the Wild Wild West Rodeo on July 11 at the Williams Lake Stampede Grounds. The Chair of the Gathering Committee is Cecil Grinder. For more information and to register, please visit www.eldersgathering.ca or call Cecil Grinder at 250394-4240; Dianne Garner, Director Elders Society 604798-4519.
Page 3 dren. It was great practicing some new vocabulary and seeing a mentor and apprentice showcase their unique learning process while making fried bread. In the technology workshop I learned about a program that digitizes audio resources. I got a booklet of 12 new language games that I'm sure the students will love and will help make learning the language fun while reinforcing their knowledge. It was helpful to see some methods to engage students in the classroom such as brain breaks, moving around more, getting outside, and listening to music. Hearing Arnold speak from his heart on his passion of being on the land celebrating our culture and supporting the children was so inspiring and fulfilling, and made me grateful to be a part of our school, and that there are so many opportunities to learn outside of the building. Each day brought such positive dialogue surrounding the hard work being done in our communities to improve the educational experience. Thank you so much for the opportunity to attend.” Kalli Van Stone
Culture and Language
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Language Nest
“I want….” Crackers, pickles, raspberries, oranges, carrots yogurt, milk, and water. “How are you?” “Are you hungry” “Are you thirsty” “Are you tired” Action Words “Action Words” = stand up, sit down, turn around, walk, run, walk backwards, look, touch, put on coats, boots and hats. “Help me” “I don’t know” “put toys clean-up” “listen” “come here” “go there” “right here” “right there”
The children have come a long ways and are starting to use more of our Okanagan language at school, home and while playing at the nest. Marnie Gregoire works at the Preschool in the mornings and she is hearing the language nest children use the language with her on a daily basis during their snack The Children are comfortable saying time settings. She says that other children who do not attend Colors = blue, green, yellow, orange, red, purple, black and the nest are starting to use more language and she encourwhite ages all the children who want to engage. Also, families are Animals = eagle, bear, deer, moose, beaver, raccoon, butterfly, noticing their children speak more at home and one family has horse, cow, sheep, coyote, fox, cat, dog, and chicken. incorporated a game to play as a family, “Go Fish” This is posiBody Parts = head, shoulders, eyes, ears, mouth, knees, toes, tive feedback for our elders and language nest. foot, arm, hair. The children are learning so much over the last five months Counting and it is awesome that the language nest children can be imElders = Tupa, intuma, Qaqana, Kikwa mersed in the language at the daycare and preschool. Sentences can say and fully understand.
Silent Speakers Pilot Program The Okanagan Indian Band was chosen to participate in a Silent Speakers Pilot Project that was sponsored by First Nations Health Authority. The course is based on a successful program that was developed in Sweden with Indigenous Sami Peoples. The model uses cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to support silent speakers to overcome barriers to using their Indigenous language in their communities.
community for some time and do not feel comfortable speaking now that they have moved back. Speakers who can speak a different dialect, so do not feel comfortable speaking within a community where another dialect is more common. Speakers who simply haven’t spoken for years because they haven’t really had anyone to speak to.
hours a week in an environment where they had the opportunity to hear and use the language with Okanagan Indian Band Programs, Family Language Nights, Prayer Hymns, Language Nest, Daycare, and nkamplqs isnmamayatn klsqilxwtet school. Who taught the course? The course was led by a team of three people:
Silent Speakers Participants: Danielle Saddleman is the Co-Instructor Paul Alexis, Hilda Belanger, Coralie Community Specialist. She coordinatWho is a Silent Speaker? Gregoire, Marnie Gregoire, Sharmaine ed the course at OKIB, connected parA speaker is someone who may have a Gregoire, Wally Louis, Carol Louie, Anneticipants with mentors and set up ingood understanding of the language but belle Tronson, Mona Tronson, Lavina ternships for participants. Danielle aldoes not speak it. There are many differWilson. so helped participants identify a lanent kinds of silent speakers. Here are guage network to start building their some examples: Course summary language circle. Residential school survivors Participants attended a ten-week course People who had a parent who went to that ran from 4-6pm every Sunday which Suzanne Gessner is the Co-Instructor residential school but grew up with started on January 17 and ended on Language Specialist. She works for a fluent grandparent in the home. March 20, 2016. First Peoplesʼ Cultural Council and People who grew up hearing the lantaught participants how adults can guage and can understand it but Participants met with a supportive fluent learn to speak a language. don’t speak it. speaker once per week for up to an hour People who have studied extensively to help support their language acquisiHolly Dalgleish is the Co-Instructor and developed a good knowledge tion. Also, near the end of the program Mental Health Specialist taught particiof reading and writing, but do not participants had the option of doing a pants CBT skills to help them work on speak the language. mini internship. Participants spent three speaking their language. Speakers who moved away from the
Community Engagement
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Community Engagement Sessions for 2016 be distributed until 6:00pm and the draw will begin at 6:45pm. Entrants must be present to claim their prize.
The Okanagan Indian Band will be introducing a new format for engaging the community this year. The community engagement sessions will not be formal meetings; there will be booths distributing information for the various projects and programs in the organization. At the engagement sessions Band members can visits booths, provide feedback and gather information for the topics of interest to you. There will be prizes at each engagement session, tickets will
Community to Community (C2C) Meeting Lake Country, BC – March 3, 2016 Representatives of the Okanagan Indian Band met with the Regional District of Lake Country (RDLC) in a Community to Community Forum to discuss items of mutual interest and build partnerships.
The meeting included a round table of introductions from the 22 representatives from each community and a lunch.
The OKIB is completing a cultural and heritage policy which will address archaeological issues as they arise during the construction of the Rail Trail.
The RDLC representatives were very Common priorities to both communi- supportive during discussions of the ties include water/watershed issues, Commonage Claim and the opportunineighbouring City of Kelowna, dams, ty for cultural tourism along the Rail utilities and the Okanagan Rail Trail. Trail; the RDLC went so far as to pass a motion of “... support, in principle, to work with the OKIB towards resolution of land claims, titles and rights and watershed protection.” When the RDLC asked what OKIB’s thoughts are about the Liberal governments’ commitment to building a new relationship with First Nations, Chief Louis reply was, “They have steak on the menu, but on a bologna budget.” He acknowledged the willingness is there, but the ability to follow through may be limited. OKIB Chief, Council members, Directors and Staff attended the C2C.
Snc’c’amala?tn
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Snc’c’amala?tn News
spa’pqɬc’a
From the Manager Lorraine Ladan Welcome We are happy to announce that Deana Rae Cohen was the successful candidate for the Early Childhood Educator position in the 3 to 5 Daycare / Head Start Program. Rae is well known at the centre. She worked in the Infant / Toddler Daycare Program a number of years back and has been working on-call for us recently. Rae has excellent work experience and brings valuable knowledge and skills to Snc’c’amala?tn.
w’əs wáˁʷs xaˀ s-pwalx-qn
( winter weasel ) ( robin )
( red-headed woodpecker )
The children had a lot of fun. March 18th Head Start participated in our School’s annual spring walk to public works and back to the daycare. Way to go children and teachers. Head Start parent night at the end of April will be our annual plant swap. Please look for the flyer that well be sent home. Denise Alexis, Jordyn Alexis, Rae Cohen, Tupa (Virginia)
Preschool Way! From the Speplina Room What did you see? (Nature Walk to the Beaver Dam) Nevaeh – I seen a beaver house. Gus – I did nothing. I didn’t see a beaver of a bird. Kyley – A beaver house and a beaver was in the beaver house. Brooklyn – I saw a big big bird. A P’qel qin Abilynn – I don’t know. Infant/Toddler Zoe – I saw the home of the beaver. Way from the Infant Toddler Room Keziah – 2 snail shells. Spring is here and we will be going on more walks to Komasket. We will Rydell – I seen a beaver house. I heard a pheasant. look at the pit house and play at the park and explore the land. Ivorie – I seen the beaver house and the beaver baby house, now that’s it. The children are happy to play in the sand box outside and ride bikes. Gabriel – I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see the beaver. I seen rocks and We would like to welcome baby Sophie and baby Hawkwns to the I/T sticks. room we are happy to have two new smiley faces in the room. I would like to remind parents to pack extra clothes for their child/ren and Kimora – I found some sticks and rocks. Kindley – The lake and rocks. also a pair of splash pants. Owen – I said “what’s inside of the dam?” Lim Limpt Luke – Points to a tree. Infant Toddler Staff Thank you, Karla, Ramona, Marnie and Tupa 3 to 5 Year Old Daycare / Head Start School Photo Day Rhonda Becker will be at Snc’c’amala?tn in the morning on Tuesday, April 19 for school class and group photos. You will be receiving a notice. Rhonda has taken over Brenda Hala Photography and it has been renamed Legacy Photography and Framing. Brenda was our photographer for many years and passed away in 2015. Rhonda worked with Brenda.
Way’ March 15th Head Start went on a nature walk with Mona Tronson our Cul- Kindergarten Wai from the P’qel qin room, tural Worker. Report Cards were sent home during student LED Conferences. Hope the On our walk we saw and listened to: kids enjoyed their two week spring break. K’ʷsixʷ ( canada geese ) Mrs. Alexis and Trish Public Works & Housing recently completed a renovation of the Snc’c’amala?tn playground including the removal of the outdated rubber matting under the swings, replacing the rubber mats with SPF wood chips and filling in the sand for the sandboxes. The renovation has improved the health and safety of the children and staff.
Education
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Class of 2016 Roll Call for Okanagan Indian Band Members
Details to include in your response: Full Legal Name Parental Information Secondary School/Academic Institute Graduation Photo (jpeg)(optional) Accomplishments/Awards/Scholarships (optional) Brief inspirational message-up to 50 words (optional) Please contact the Education Department either by telephone 250-558-3706 or email: lacey.gregoire@okanagan.org
If you are graduating Grade 12 Student or PostSecondary Graduate for the school year of 20152016, we would like to know about it.
POST SECONDARY FUNDING APPLICATION DEADLINES - APRIL 30th
Health Department Patient Travel Coordinator hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays from 8amnoon and 1:00pm-4:30pm.
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UXO Update: A start to another great year
Community
The awareness program is done for school district 22, St. James and the Cultural Immersion School. Ongoing meetings with DND and Defense Construction of Canada (DCC) are planning upcoming season for both sites Madeline Lake range Goose lake Range. A semiannual meeting with The The UXO department has been busy with the pre planning Department of Nation Defense is scheduled for early May 2016 training for students to attend TEEX Texas, Notra Inc. the UXO conLim limpt tractor for DND has early spring work, security for the Madeline site, Don Louis, UXO Liaison UXO schools awareness program. 250-542-3444 The training is provided by the Department of National DeDon.louis@okanagan.org fense(DND), they have provided funding to train 3 UXO techs per Emmarie Louis assisting with educating about UXO’s year over a 3 period, Advertising, recruiting members, student selection completed for the 2016 season. The 3 students will be attending are: Alexis Gregoire, David Cullen and Mark Opphiemer, are the three students who will be leaving April 8th, 2016 for the 4 week course returning early May. OKIB and Notra (UXO contractor) are doing an assessment at Madeline Lake range. DND had slippage monies to do extra assessment work early this spring. The assessment work includes using a large metal detector (EM unit) to go over the ground that DND formally used. This work will provide Notra, DND and OKIB with a more accurate mapping of the land to determine where the UXO’s lay. Once digging commences this information will be used to locate the UXO’s OKIB security is providing this service to for DND. When Notra Inc. is not on site OKIB is providing security personal to maintain the site. OKIB security staff: Quinten Pierro, Trent John and Mark Oppenhiemer. OKIB is participating in the school program prompting awareness program; along with the DND we prompt the dangers of an UXO. The awareness program is provided to the Grade 3ers and up.