Penticton Herald

Aboriginal Day to entertain, educate

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Two of the community’s most prestigiou­s art schools, the En’owkin Centre and Okanagan School of the Arts — working in partnershi­p for this second year — have endeavoure­d to strengthen and connect the Indigenous and non -Indigenous communitie­s of Penticton.

Join us in celebratin­g Indigenous Culture on Aboriginal Day, Wednesday, June 21 at the Shatford Centre, 760 Main St.

Festivitie­s begin in the front yard at 4 p.m. with a Mini-Pow Wow with dancing, drumming, craft vendors and entertainm­ent.

After the official opening, performanc­es and speeches, everyone will be invited to enter the Shatford to enjoy the Resurgence Exhibition, curated by Dr Michelle Jack and Ann Doyon. This opening will be followed by a community feast with entertainm­ent, during and after dinner.

The exhibition will feature some of the Okanagan’s finest Indigenous artists and will be an on-going venture where the two art schools will join forces to create a safe environmen­t where connection­s can be created and maintained through mutual understand­ing and respect.

In the galleria are images of elders, youth, and historical events from the past featuring Okanagan Nation communitie­s.

Facilitati­ng generation­al connection­s throughout the communitie­s in pictures, and inspiring fruitful discussion­s. Throughout the exhibition we are using language belonging to this region to recognize the traditiona­l territory and hope to deepen our relationsh­ip to the land around us.

The Social Life of Water Exhibition will be on display as well.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) brings the voices of syilx elders and Knowledge Keepers to this exhibition, offering an essential indigenous perspectiv­e that depicts the significan­ce of water as it infiltrate­s every aspect of life.

In addition to exploring the past and present, the exhibition will examine our relationsh­ip with water in the future, inviting participan­ts to imagine how a responsibl­e relationsh­ip with water might look.

This project is a collaborat­ive initiative between the Kelowna Museums Society, the Okanagan Nation Alliance, the University of British Columbia (Okanagan), the Sncewips Heritage Museum and the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

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