Steve Nitah, former chief of the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation in the Northwest Territories, spoke last week to a group of national park supporters at the Watermark Beach Resort. He discussed the negotiations between his First Nation and Parks Canada over past decades to establish Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve to the northeast of Great Slave Lake. Nitah, who was participating in National Aboriginal Business Opportunities Conference at Spirit Ridge last week, was asked what advice he would give to local First Nations negotiating a national park reserve in the South Okanagan-Lower Similkameen. "Take ownership. Control the pen," he said. (Richard McGuire photo)

Steve Nitah, former chief of the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation in the Northwest Territories, spoke last week to a group of national park supporters at the Watermark Beach Resort. He discussed the negotiations between his First Nation and Parks Canada over past decades to establish Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve to the northeast of Great Slave Lake. Nitah, who was participating in National Aboriginal Business Opportunities Conference at Spirit Ridge last week, was asked what advice he would give to local First Nations negotiating a national park reserve in the South Okanagan-Lower Similkameen. “Take ownership. Control the pen,” he said. (Richard McGuire photo)