Hawthorn, wolf willow and sage are among the traditional plants that can be found in the garden on the hillside at Okanagan College’s Vernon campus, which is seeing a flurry of visitors thanks to an $85,000 donation from TD Bank Group.
TD’s gift, made earlier this year, is funding tours of the K’nmaĺka Senqâĺten — the Kalamalka Indigenous garden — for children and newcomers to Canada.
Okanagan College has already received a portion of the funding, with the remainder to be distributed over the next three years.
This year’s donation allowed the college to provide garden tours to more than 250 children.
“My class had a fantastic experience at the Indigenous garden,” says Kim Tyssen, a fourth grade teacher at BX Elementary School. “They learned so much about the traditional use of local plants and were really excited to get the opportunity to touch, taste, and see them. They also really enjoyed the traditional stories and Syilx song.”
The garden was created in 2017 by a small group of employees and students from the college, as well as members of the Dennis family. Elder Theresa Dennis granted permission to gather and harvest 30 plants from Syilx Okanagan nation land and transplant them into the garden.
“We’re proud that our gift has enabled so many children and newcomers to Canada to learn about Syilx culture and develop a deeper understanding of plant medicine,” says Carolyn Scotchmer, with the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. “We believe we have an obligation to future generations to take care of our planet and are excited to support this work over four years as part of the TD Ready Commitment.”
Garden tours are provided by Justin Peters, a member of the Syilx community.
“My family has lived in the Okanagan since time immemorial,” Peters said. “I feel a deep connection to these hills, to these rivers, to these lakes. In our Indigenous language nsyilxcn, we say timxulax (teem-who-lah) when we refer to our mother, the earth. I am honoured to have been mentored by elders from the Okanagan Indian Band on how to work with Indigenous plants, and I’m excited and proud to share pieces of my culture with students, newcomers to Canada, or anyone willing to listen.”
The garden is part of Okanagan College’s “Indigenization” plan and represents an ongoing commitment to working with and learning from Indigenous communities.
“We’re so grateful to TD for their gift,” said Jane Lister, regional dean at Okanagan College. “Over the next four years, it has the potential to allow hundreds of local children to learn traditional Syilx knowledge and develop a new understanding of and appreciation for the land.”
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