Honouring their relationship with the Osoyoos Indian Band and the Okanagan First Nations, the regional district will be dedicating a statue in Okanagan Falls.
On Thursday at 1 p.m. the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen will be unveiling a statue of the Salmon Chief on the corner of 7th Avenue and Cedar Street adjacent to Christie Memorial Provincial Park.
Area D Director Bill Schwarz said he is proud of the opportunity to work with the Osoyoos Indian Band.
“The inclusion of this statue on Okanagan Falls waterfront is a fitting reminder of the ancestry of these lands and our commitment to work with our First Nation brethren as we move forward,” said Schwarz.
The sculpture was made by Smoker Marchant, an Okanagan from Colville, Wash. The Salmon Chief sculpture represents someone who all the bands respected, and his responsibility was to make sure that everyone had plenty and that the survival of the whole band was far more important than the survival of individual. Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie will be unveiling the sculpture along with Schwarz.