Innholdsfortegnelse for 58.3 Fall 2025 i British Columbia History

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report shall be construed as abrogating or derogating from the Aboriginal title or rights of the syilx Okanagan Nation or limiting or quantifying infringements to the syilx Okanagan Nation’s Aboriginal title and rights. This report, and the information and conclusions set out in the report, cannot be used by any party without the express written consent of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. capt̓ikʷł are the oral historic and traditional teachings—a record of the natural laws—of the syilx Okanagan People. They outline the relationship, cultural protocols, and responsibilities to tmixʷ, the living beings of the water and land. capt̓ikʷł recount how snk̓l̕̕íp (Coyote) brought salmon up nx̌ʷəntkʷitkʷ (Columbia River) and eventually into the Okanagan Basin, to prepare for the arrival of the syilx People and ensure they could…

Indigenous herstory The book Okanagan Women’s Voices (2022) examines and makes more available the history of earlier settlement times in the Okanagan from a “herstory” view. The editors—myself [Jeannette Armstrong}, Lally Grauer, and Janet MacArthur, colleagues and friends at UBC Okanagan—worked closely together to select words and writing by seven non-syilx and syilx women in the period from 1870s to the 1960s, when the male voice overshadowed all. The seven women used the power of words and story in their own lifetimes and these voices provide a glimpse into the tensions and relationships of those times from a uniquely female perspective. My intent as an editor was to examine and feature the words of Josephine Shuttleworth (1865–1950), Eliza Jane Swalwell (1868–1944), Marie Houghton Brent (1870–1968), and Mourning Dove (1886–1936). I…

When Lord and Lady Aberdeen arrived in the Okanagan in 1892, wide-open ranges still fed large herds of cattle which, for several years, had been feeding miners in the Kootenays and gold prospectors passing through the Valley on their way to the next great motherlode. But change was in the air, and the worldly couple saw opportunities when they visited the agricultural fair in Vernon, before a midnight sail down Okanagan Lake delivered them to their new colonial-style home on their property, called Guisachan, near Okanagan Mission. The Lady’s brother, Coutts Marjoribanks, was their manager and had planted an orchard near the house. As they looked about, the Aberdeens quickly realized the area had great potential to become a thriving new colony and furthermore, that orcharding would provide investment and…

The board of directors of the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative issued a press release on July 25, 2024, which stated in part that “due to extremely low estimated fruit volumes, weather effects, and difficult market and financial conditions, the cooperative will not be able to effectively operate the business going forward.”1 Shock waves reverberated throughout the industry. For 88 years the cooperative had processed, stored, packaged, and sold fruit for the fruit-growing industry. The abruptness of its closure compounded the shock. On the day of the announcement many growers were picking fruit with nowhere to take it at the end of the day. The Okanagan fruit industry began when Father Pandosy founded the Kelowna mission in 1859 and planted the first apple trees in the Okanagan Valley. Early pioneer growers…

It is no exaggeration to say that Leonard Norris was the founder of the Okanagan Historical Society (OHS). Norris first came to the Okanagan Valley on foot in 1882, when he was seventeen years old, and worked on farms near Lumby. In 1887, he pre-empted land near Round Lake, north of the Okanagan Indian Reserve No. 1. A year later, he was asked to become a temporary provincial constable at Lansdowne. In 1893, when Vernon’s second government agent, Moses Lumby, died in the hospital in Victoria, Norris was the popular choice for his replacement, and his appointment to the position was greeted with approval and some celebration. The citizens of the North Okanagan were not wrong. Norris would stay in the position for the next 33 years. The late 1800s…

The Canada West Ski Areas Association recently reported that British Columbia’s ski resorts generated $2.15 billion during the 2022–23 season, an impressive amount! The Okanagan Valley is home to four popular resorts: Silver Star, Big White, Apex, and Baldy Mountain. Together they are a major tourist attraction and one of the largest employers in the Valley. Skiing is an important industry in the Okanagan today, but how did it all begin? The impact that Scandinavian immigrants had on popularizing skiing from the early 1900s in BC has been documented.1 They inspired early interest in skiing in the Okanagan beginning in the 1920s. Ski jumping reigned, and the newspapers reported the exploits of Nels Nelsen of Revelstoke who, in 1920, captured the Canadian ski championship with a jump of 185 feet.…

The kid pressing his ears against the family’s radio console was a long way from the National Hockey League action, but the immediacy of Foster Hewitt’s voice made the game seem close at hand.1 A forgotten hero Like the radio waves that first inspired Larry Kwong, the story of his giant leap from an Okanagan Chinatown to the top of the hockey world in the 1940s has almost faded into the ether. Kwong’s legend, like much of Chinese Canadian history, has been unsung. For legions of Chinese Canadians, though, Kwong was a folk hero for reaching levels of success that were unheard of. Chasing a dream It was early in the Great Depression when little Larry Kwong took his first strides on a makeshift rink in Vernon’s Chinatown.2 British Columbia…

An evolving station Established in 1914 by the Department of Agriculture (now Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) as the Dominion Experimental Farm, the Summerland Research and Development Centre has been integral to Canadian agricultural industries for 111 years. The “Station,” as it’s commonly referred to by locals, sits on approximately 800 acres overlooking Trout Creek and Sun-Oka Provincial Park on the southern outskirts of Summerland. The European pioneer families of Summerland, who expanded from ranching to tree fruit production in the late 1800s, recognized the potential the local climate endowed and sought the support of the federal government in establishing an experimental centre.1 The acquisition of land from the syilx people of the Penticton Indian Band, through a number of stages of acquisition, was contentious and remains a subject of ongoing…

Qwee a nach at tun sqwull (Listen closely to what you are about to hear!) Coast Salish living culture Our Ancestors grew up during a time when the world and everything in it was ours! Imagine there was no Safeway, Starbucks, bingo halls, cellphones, restaurants, licences to fish, BC Ferries or highways. Long and short trips required families to travel together on ocean-going canoes, assisted by sails. Marriages among noble families were arranged throughout the Coast Salish region as far south as Lummi, Washington and as far north as Cape Mudge, on Quadra Island. These family connections strengthened access to resources, encouraged peaceful relations, and ensured access to songs and ceremonies of other noble families. For at least 15 generations before our time, families blessed and protected each other in…