New school brings dreams to life
Maliki Williams, 4 (centre) helps with the sod turning while surrounded by a circle of ceremonial drummers at the official ground-breaking ceremonies for the new Outma Sqilx’w Cultural School on the Penticton Indian Reserve this week.
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Updated: September 04, 2009 12:05 PM
The Outma Sqilx’w Cultural School performs a very special educational service for the Penticton Indian Band. Not only does it provide Kindergarten to Grade 6 education, but it does so by tying the provincial curriculum to Syilx culture and tradition.
For now, that work is accomplished, as it has been for many years, in a collection of temporary buildings and mobile classrooms. But as the 2009 school year starts, a ceremony this week made it official that it will be the last year in those accommodations.
In a ceremony that brought together elders and a range of dignitaries, the PIB officially broke ground for the new building that will become the new home for Outma Sqilx’w, starting in September 2010.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip attended the ceremony, and said that the ground-breaking was the realization of a dream.
“It has lifted my spirits and re-energized me,” he said. “The fruition of the dreams of many years ago have come into reality based on the hard work, the dedication, the deep commitment and the ability of our people to set aside their differences and arrive at decisions based on a consensual approach.”
That spirit of optimism was infectious. Stockwell Day, MP for Okanagan Coquihalla, also attended the event and found himself wrapped up in the spirit.
“I was telling my wife about the ground-breaking and what an emotional time that was for everyone there,” he said. “It’s still lingering with me, a nice glow of the reality of what took place (Tuesday), and to know that the school is going to go ahead is very exciting.”
The school fills a vital role for the band, central to the effort to bring Okanagan language and culture back into the every day life of the community. But the new building, said Henry Michel, director of education for the PIB, will not only be a place for that work to take place, the very design of the structure is an expression of Okanagan culture, incorporating cultural elements and values into the structure itself.
Upon entering the building, visitors and students will enter a large circular foyer, an artistic interpretation of the underground houses that served as winter homes for the Okanagan people. Pillars supporting the roof will be carved with representations of traditional food plants and animals, while the floor will be inscribed with the image of a turtle, representing the much larger turtle that legend tells carries Turtle Island — North America — on its back.
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