Okanagan Indian Band Cultural Knowledge and Use Study

Okanagan Indian Band Cultural Knowledge and Use Study

Kwusen worked collaboratively with the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) to conduct a Cultural Knowledge and Use Study in relation to the proposed Sugar Lake and Shuswap Falls Water Licence Renewals Project. The CKUS and report were designed to assist OKIB in assessing the potential effects of the proposed Project on Traditional Use Values, opportunities to exercise rights, the proposed Project’s contribution to cumulative effects, and effects on the broader Syilx Rights and Title of the OKIB. Tasks included CKUS research methodology training and ongoing mentorship with community researchers to research and upload archival documents to OKIB’s Community KnowledgeKeeper (CKK), a web-based data management and mapping software designed by Kwusen. Kwusen also provided in-person and remote support for CKUS interviews with OKIB community members and conducted community workshops. The multi-media digital material recorded during the interviews and workshop were uploaded to OKIB’s CKK. Kwusen produced a CKUS report that included a detailed ethnographic background, a results section outlining community concerns about Project effects, an assessment of Project effects on OKIB’s Syilx Title and Rights, and a discussion of mitigation measures. All research from this CKUS continues to be utilized by the OKIB through their Community KnowledgeKeeper (CKK) database.