To better reflect being situated on traditional Secw茅pemc land, the North Okanagan-Shuswap School District 83 (SD83) is pursuing a name change to include a meaningful Indigenous word.
In a report to the May 21 school board meeting, director of Indigenous education Chelsea Prince said that since the current name was first adopted in 1997 when the Armstrong-Spallumcheen and Shuswap school districts amalgamated, the Quelm煤cw Education Council has been disappointed with it for a couple of reasons. She explained that though the Armstrong area is on territory jointly claimed by the Syilx Okanagan and Secw茅pemc peoples, the district as a whole is in the latter.
含羞草研究社淧ositioning 含羞草研究社楴orth Okanagan含羞草研究社� before 含羞草研究社楽huswap含羞草研究社� may not have been intended as prioritizing one area over the other, but that is how it can be perceived,含羞草研究社� Prince pointed out in the report. 含羞草研究社淚n addition, the word 含羞草研究社楽huswap含羞草研究社� is an outdated and historically incorrect term invented by settlers, which is really the word 含羞草研究社楽ecw茅pemc含羞草研究社�.含羞草研究社�
She added, however, that the district has come a long way since then and have developed meaningful relationships with local First Nations, which includes Splatsin, Neskonlith, Skwl膩x and Adams Lake, and identified reconciliation as a value in the strategic plan.
Splatsin education director Darrell Jones, who presented Prince含羞草研究社檚 report, agreed that progress has been made, though it hasn含羞草研究社檛 always been easy.
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檝e been working for our band for a very long time, like 38 years, and含羞草研究社� I was here when the amalgamation happened含羞草研究社�,含羞草研究社� he told the board. 含羞草研究社淚 mean, I do recall where there was never a land acknowledgement at that time to where we are today.
含羞草研究社淭here含羞草研究社檚 many other things that the district has worked on, I含羞草研究社檓 not saying that it hasn含羞草研究社檛, but it was also a bit of a grind.含羞草研究社�
For the name change, Prince said the Quelm煤cw Education Council has compiled a list of potential Secw茅pemcts铆n words to consider, and will narrow that down to a short list to be presented to elders and communities to 含羞草研究社渕ake sure that we含羞草研究社檙e capturing the right idea.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淥ne consideration that we discussed at length was that whatever word that含羞草研究社檚 chosen, it doesn含羞草研究社檛 have to mean school, it doesn含羞草研究社檛 have to mean learning,含羞草研究社� Prince explained. 含羞草研究社淚t should have something to do with the partnership between the communities and school district and should be a word that people can learn to pronounce so that we adopt it and use it and feel comfortable using it.含羞草研究社�
Trustee Tennile Lachmuth said she含羞草研究社檇 be happy to support the name change and made a motion that the board pursue a partnership with the four bands to change the district含羞草研究社檚 name to include a Secw茅pemcts铆n word or phrase, with that carried unanimously.
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