Trails B.C. project bringing inclusivity to syilx youth

Trails B.C. is strengthening the relationship between syilx youth, elders, and the land through the TMIX? Trails Project.

Elders and knowledge keepers will be giving guided tours to youth and their families and share traditional stories about the different trails and their cultural significance in the Okanagan.

Knowledge keepers will share stories while also teaching youth about traditional medicine they find along the way.

“The part of the project that makes me excited and driven is knowing the youth will be out on these trails with our elders, and we’re going to have the elders tell our traditional stories,” Okanagan Indigenous youth coordinator Sage Flett Kruger said.

As a Penticton Indian Band member, Flett Kruger remembers going on school field trips growing up to pick berries or listen to stories from elders.

“That’s one of the things I cherished the most about going to that school was getting to go out and do the field trips, like what our intent is for this project,” Flett Kruger said. “It’s a sense of reconnection, and also a way of knowing that being there and being present with the people around you really makes you feel grounded.”

READ MORE: Westbank First Nation launches online program to help revitalize syilx language

Flett Kruger wants youth and their families to go on the tours and feel the same sense of grounding and reconnection that she felt.

“It’s important for the youth to feel that. We’re all stuck on our phones, and because of COVID, we’re stuck inside. I feel like there’s been a lot of disconnection, especially in the last two years,” she said. “For me, my personal goal is to have that sense of connection again with the people, and most importantly with the land.”

The project is in collaboration with the Westbank First Nation and the Okanagan Nation Alliance and will be mindful of what youth want from the project.

“It’s important for us to have Indigenous voices and Indigenous voices be heard. We’re being mindful and knowing that this project is going to be changing,” Flett Kruger said.

“Inclusion for this project, that’s huge for us, within trails, and our community. It’s important for us to know that we’re all being included, have our voices heard, and have that reconnection,” she said.

Flett Kruger and Indigenous management coordinator Damyn Libby are hopeful the tours can begin in April and go throughout the year; however, the goal of the project is to expand the tours in the Okanagan to the entire year. 

“With every different season, there are different berries to be picked, and different traditional things we would do,” Flett Kruger said.

To stay updated on the work being done during the project, and to support the project, visit the Trails B.C. website.

To donate to the project click here.

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