“The salmon people are our relatives,” was the fundamental message for non-Indigenous participants at the start of the 2022 Nk’mip (Osoyoos Lake) Water Science Forum in Osoyoos last week. This year’s water forum took on a very ambitious aim to bridge traditional Indigenous approaches to water issues with Western scientific methods.
The fourth Nk’Mip Osoyoos Lake Water Science Forum, “The Heart of the Watershed: Bridging Indigenous and Western Approaches to Knowledge, Science and Management,” will finally be presented this month after several re-schedules due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A two-year pilot program will bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members together at the kitchen table to discuss truth and reconciliation. The first gatherings are planned in syilx Territory this fall.
