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Shuswap First Nations landmark project gets $10,000 boost

The funds received from the Heritage Legacy Fund will assist research and design of the project.
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Shelley Witzky, an Adams Lake Indian Band Councillor, and Sutra Brett, with the Shuswap Trail Alliance, examine some of the preliminary models for the Secwépemc Landmarks and Trail Sign project. One of the landmarks will be placed near the wharf at Marine Park in Salmon Arm. (File Photo)

The group of First Nations, municipalities and community groups working on the Secwépemc Landmarks Project are being spurred on after receiving a $10,000 heritage legacy grant.

The Shuswap Trail Alliance has partnered with the Splátsin, Adams Lake and Neskonlith Bands as well as the City of Salmon Arm and the Province of British Columbia to bring sculptures and trailhead posts celebrating Secwépemc culture to the Shuswap.

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The completed project will see the installation of eight Secwépemc landmark sculptures with interpretive panels featuring oral histories and traditional place names and stories about the Shuswap Lake region. One-hundred trailhead posts will also be installed.

The $10,000 received from the Heritage Legacy Fund will help with the research, design, publishing and installation of the interpretive panels. An advisory group of Secwépemc elders from the four local bands will guide the work on the project.

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Six of the interpretive panels will be situated next to landmarks on well-visited access points and trail systems in the Shuswap. The other two will be located next to the two main Secwépemc landmark sculptures located in Memorial Park in Chase and Marine Peace Park in Salmon Arm.

“The interpretive panels will engage both locals and visitors alike in learning about Secwépemc cultural landscapes and the social and ecological importance of the Shuswap Lakes region,” a statement from the project organizers reads.



jim.elliot@saobserver.net

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Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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