Students connecting cultures
This fall, dozens of local students are working to build a trail in a Kelowna regional park that will officially open to the public next year.
Black Mountain sntsk’il’neten Regional Park was created in 2014 through a partnership between the Regional District of Central Okanagan, Westbank First Nation and the provincial government.
In September 2017, the regional district purchased almost 127 hectares of land to be added to the 516-hectare park for just over $2.3 million.
Over the next six weeks, students from Mount Boucherie Secondary, Rutland Senior Secondary and Dr. Knox Middle schools will be hauling, spreading and packing gravel along the first 800 metres of the park’s 1.9.kilometre loop trail.
“They’re here making an impact, they’re working harder than they work any other time, pushing wheelbarrows and gravel, and they’re doing amazing work,” said Kyla Winacott, a Mount Boucherie Indigenous Academy teacher. “When they come here years from now, they will respect this place more because they were part of the making of it.”
Funding for the project comes through the Friends of Black Mountain Society, which successfully applied for two grants totalling over $15,800, and through the regional district.
“It’s a huge project, and we’re really thrilled by it,” said Ian Pooley, president of the Friends of Black Mountain Society.
Pooley said he hopes the park becomes a major walking network for everyone in the Central Okanagan.
“We’re really proud of it, and we want the public to be aware of it and to come out and start using it, and this is the beginning of that.”
The regional district and Westbank First Nation co-manage the park.
“It’s culturally significant for Westbank First Nation because it’s within our traditional territory of the Sylix nation,” said Tom Konek, councillor for Westbank First Nation. “We want to protect and we want to share our heritage and culture in an authentic way, and in many ways this allows the community to get to enjoy Black Mountain.”