Okanagan Indian Band announces $900K cultural gathering space

The Okanagan Indian Band has received the green light to move forward with a new $900,000 Cultural Arbor.

The gathering space will be used for powwows, ceremonies, youth and elders’ gatherings, cultural events and workshops.

The new community gathering space will replace an older Cultural Arbor which was built in 1988 and decommissioned two years ago.

"As we hopefully emerge from quarantine and social isolation later this year, this kind of community gathering place will be even more important," Okanagan Indian Band Chief Byron Louis said in a media release. 

The release said the Band has received a 75 per cent grant from the federal and provincial government towards the $900,000 cost. The Okanagan Indian Band will cover the remaining $225,000 in costs.

"It was the community members of OKIB that were the driving force for the initial arbor structure at the Komasket location," Chief Louis said. "When first constructed it was the largest and grandest facility at that time. It’s a facility that made the community proud because the people put their communal efforts into building a focal meeting place. I am confident that the reconstructed arbor will also help enhance our community's attractiveness and pride."

The Chief said since the arbor was decommissioned two years ago it has been greatly missed by the community. The new Cultural Arbor will be built in the same place which was the location of an old Okanagan-Syilx pre-contact village and fishing site.

Work will commence in the near future and is scheduled to be complete by October 2020.

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