National Aboriginal Day - June 21, 2013

After raining most of the week prior, the sun peeked out and gave us a beautiful morning to enjoy our pancake breakfast and exhibits at Quilakwa Park in Enderby. The excitement was high at the starting line for the 5 km fun run that some were calling a health challenge. Students from Highland Elementary joined in, which made the event that much more amazing and energizing. This event was hosted by the Splats’in pronounced “spla cheen” Tsm7aksaltn (Splatsin Teaching Centre). Splats’in refers to the large flat prairie beside the river, which is the beautiful land we ran through on our health challenge.

 (more photos here )

According to http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Splatsin, the Splats’in are the most southern tribe of the 17 Shuswap First Nations who make up the Secwepemc pronounced “She-whep-m” Nation, the largest Interior Salish speaking First Nation in Canada. The Secwepemc territory stretches from the BC/Alberta border near the Yellowhead Pass to the plateau west of the Fraser River, southeast to the Arrow Lakes and to the upper reaches of the Columbia River. This tribe has been involved in language revitalitzation projects since the early 1970's. Every Monday since 1998, they have met to speak our language, document and teach. Their method is simple as told by their elder Marie David “wrap the language around the babies”.

We were encouraged by Splats’in Chief Wayne Christian to celebrate the day, honour each other, and really take in the meaning of being a community. We were moved when Chief Christian spoke in the traditional Splats’in language, which also garnered a wave of applause from those gathered. Chief Christian joked that speaking in the traditional language was the only time the elders listened to him.

The Splats’in Tsm7aksaltn (Splats’in Teaching Centre) is a First Nation non-profit organization. Their mandate is to be a teaching centre for early learning that incorporates the Splatsin language, culture and history into their programming for children aged 0-12 years old, parents, family, and community. This is a strong and vibrant organization sharing so much with the region. Thank you for hosting a truly memorable day!

Please share with us what you did to celebrate National Aboriginal Day. Remember, the First Nations Friendship Centre in Vernon is hosting their previously rained out celebrations on July 5^th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Polson Park Stage. The theme is Peace and Prayer. We hope to see you there.