Osoyoos Band seeks return of sacred sites in discussions with B.C. government

For most people, it’s just another highway through the South Okanagan.

For Osoyoos Band Chief Clarence Louie, it’s a daily reminder of land his community says was taken more than a century ago.

After years of negotiations, the Osoyoos Band is working with the province of British Columbia on a land claim swap that could re-draw where the reserve starts and ends.

Rather than seeking the return of highways that now cross reserve land, the band is negotiating for a patchwork of Crown land of comparable value, including culturally significant sites and an ancestral burial site.

“They want the highway that goes through our reserve,” Louie said. “They are demanding it. We want our old reserve lands back. Call it a land swap.”

The proposal would allow the highways to remain open while returning other Crown land to the band.

Louie says the biggest misconception is that nearby homeowners could lose their property.

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“Property owners have nothing to worry about,” he said. “No private property has been on the table. No one needs to be concerned about their private property.”

Instead, the negotiations focus entirely on Crown land.

For Louie, however, this isn’t simply about replacing acres.

“Natives didn’t have churches,” he said. “We had landmarks, like Spotted Lake — that’s our church. We want our churches back, and we want our grave sites back.”

Those spiritual and cultural connections are why some of the land being discussed includes places of historical significance.

B.C. Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Spencer Chandra Herbert says negotiations like these can avoid years of uncertainty in the courts.

“You actually get more done when you work together. When you find mutual interest you get more out of it,” he said.

Louie hopes this agreement proves historic land disputes don’t have to pit communities against one another. Instead, he says, they can be resolved through negotiation, protecting public highways, leaving private property untouched and returning Crown land that carries generations of history.