Section 2: The Okanagan’s Ecology, Climate, & Biodiversity

2.1 - The Okanagan as a Sanctuary

As many of the speakers in The Pocket Desert radio documentary affirm, the incredibly diverse landscape of the Okanagan is home to hundreds of different species, many of which only reside in the Okanagan. In the 1990 South Okanagan Conservation Strategy, plans to “develop and prioritize management activities for the conservation of natural habitat and its unique flora and fauna in the south Okanagan” are detailed over a span of five years from 1990 to 1995, overlaping with the time The Pocket Desert was being produced and first broadcasted (Hlady 1-3). The plan states that the Okanagan “is unique relative to wildlife diversity, including species that do not occur elsewhere in the province” as many of the species “depend on arid, low elevation habitat types” found especially in the southern Okanagan (see annotation 2.1) (33). At the same time, numerous species continue to rely on the Okanagan’s wetlands and marshes as breeding, nesting, and feeding grounds (South Okanagan 14). The uncommon blend of desert-like landscape, wetlands, and high levels of forest biomass allows the Okanagan to be a sanctuary for myriad indigenous species while providing conditions that can act as “especially important safe havens for wildlife threatened by climate change” (Wildlife Protection Assessment 5-8). To this day, the Okanagan continues to be “a species hotspot” that hosts “many of the province’s at-risk species” with the help of its unique and rare landscape and climate (8). However, as identified throughout The Pocket Desert, the Okanagan and all of the wildlife that call it home remain threatened by Canada’s ongoing settler colonialism and its pernicious legacy in much of the Okanagan’s history to present day.

Collage Description/Caption: A collage of multiple desaturated photos taken in and around Osoyoos (including photos of Osoyoos, signage, roadways, vineyards, fencing, buildings, scaffolding, and a garbage bin) with digitally added shading. Photos taken on August 6, 2022. Collage completed August 10, 2022.

2.2 - Settler Colonialism’s Violence on the Okanagan

While the Okanagan region is host to an astounding number of habitats and species, settler colonialism continues to violently mar its landscape and the relationships the land has to the Syilx Peoples. The destruction, commodification, and exploitation of land combined with the repression and denial of the Syilx Peoples is ultimately necessary in order for settlers to continue upholding “settler colonial assertions of power over the Okanagan Valley’s history, as well as geography” (see annotation 3.2) (Gahman and Legault 54). Today, even as the Okanagan is consistently being branded and advertised as a safe and sustainable place to live and a trendy location of winter skiing and summer activities, “environmental degradation and biodiversity loss continue to be exacerbated at alarming rates throughout the region” (53). At the same time the Okanagan is being “co-opted into a monetized resource” and “parceled off as private property,” Indigenous lands and cultures are being commodified and exploited (see Section 3.3) (53-4). As Herman Edward affirms in The Pocket Desert, the colonial borders established between the settler states of Canada and The United States of America literally divide and cut through the natural landscape, separating the Syilx Peoples and much of the Okanagan’s wildlife from a considerable area of their home and environment (see annotation 2.2). By the late nineteenth century, following the initial stages of colonialism and settlement, European settlers began marketing the Okanagan as “the land of fruit and sunshine” (Wagner 26) with a “pleasant climate, nostalgic familiarity, and ever-decreasing/non-threatening Aboriginal population” (Gahman and Legault 55). These land-developers overtly relied on reproducing a whitewashed and palpable idea of the land to give settlers a readied European perspective that grants permission to actively participate in colonisation and destructive ecological transformation (55). As Dr. Jeannette Armstrong and John Stelkia explain through their oral accounts in The Pocket Desert (see annotations 3.2 and 3.3), colonisation, settlements, and the disrupting of ecological systems has wreaked havoc on the Okanagan and the Syilx Okanagan Peoples and their relationships to the land (see Section 3).

Settler colonial institutions often imply or blatantly assert that the history of a place begins with the colonisation or settlement of the land despite the land and its people existing and contributing to a history that goes back to time immemorial. Because the natural landscape and environment of the Okanagan holds great significance to the Syilx Peoples and has for centuries, having to observe the violent destruction of the land is “akin to ripping out pages from a history book” (see Section 3) (Schwann 173). As settlements, orchards, roads, and the modification of the natural landscape continue to expand and increase in size and volume, many crucial elements, habitats, land masses, and ecosystems are being lost and replaced with settler colonial expectations of what the Okanagan should look like (see annotations 2.1, 2.2, 2.3). With the loss of habitats comes a serious threat to “vital sources of traditional foods, medicines, and natural materials” along with the endangerment of “homes of Indigenous biodiversity” (see annotation 3.3) (“Welcome to ECOmmunity Place” par. 1). Further, loss of habitats often result in the flora and fauna that live in the region being forced out or extirpated, and the regenerative systems upheld by the unique biodiversity of the Okanagan begin to deteriorate (Hlady 1, South Okanagan 13). As identified by the South Okanagan Conservation Strategy nearly thirty years ago, the decades of rapid human settlement which has resulted in “a major loss of the natural environment” that continues “to diminish in size and quality,” remains reflective of what is happening in the Okanagan to this day (Hlady 1). The timelessness of The Pocket Desert emphasised through its audio format allows for the concerns and representations of the Okanagan to continue acting as an admonishing reminder of the ecological problems and settler colonial violence that remains today.

Along with settlements, modifications to the land through the placement of roads, borders, and introduction of invasive plant species, as well as the elimination or channelization of natural waterways are repeatedly named as dangerous barriers and threats to the land and wildlife (see annotations 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 3.3). Like the channelway in Osoyoos, Penticton Creek was channelized and modified in a number of sections against its naturally winding formation, which was shaped by the innate movement of water that provided a healthy habitat for animals such as kokanee salmon and rainbow trout (see annotation 2.3) (South Okanagan 20). The channelization of the Penticton Channel section of the Okanagan River has since separated the majority of the historical floodplain from the river and lowered the water table,” resulting in alarming losses of fish habitat and fish populations (South Okanagan 20, “Welcome to ECOmmunity Place” par. 10). Significant alterations to the land and natural waterways were also performed further south in Osoyoos, such as the construction of dams and wooden “flumes” built for irrigation and the channelisation and straightening of Okanagan River from northern Osoyoos in 1951 (see annotation 2.3) (Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society). Nearly twenty years later, the B.C. government deemed Osoyoos Lake to be “fragile” and continues to oversee testing of the waters to this day (Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society). Tests from 1978-1989, revealed mercury, toxins, and DDT were found in fish in Osoyoos Lake (see annotation 3.3) and in 1996, Osoyoos Lake was listed as “poor” with “high levels of phosphorous, causing excessive growths of algae” (see annotation 2.3) (Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society). As “rapid population growth, agriculture, tourism development, and climate change” continue to increase and grow progressively worse, demands on water resources increase and escalate at the same time water supply and quality are swiftly declining (Wagner 24). The domino effect of settler colonialism on the environment highlights a devastating trend emphasised in The Pocket Desert as settler intervention is revealed to cause numerous problems that are then thought to require even more settler intervention to solve (see annotations 2.1 and 2.3). The layers of settler modifications and alterations in an attempt to “fix” the land stem from and are a result of the settler colonial need to take control of stolen land, erase Indigenous presence, and shape the land to fit Western and colonial expectations.

Today, many of the problems and concerns that foregrounded The Pocket Desert and prevailed during its broadcast remain or have worsened over the last nearly thirty years. Increasing population and urban development continue to intensify pressures on Osoyoos Lake, from “lakeside construction, boat moorages, increased boat traffic, and the removal of natural lakeshore trees, plants, gravel beds” that are being replaced by “turf grass and concrete walls” to the remains of many dams and the wooden “flumes” still being used in many parts of Osoyoos and much of the Okanagan today (Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society). Of the nine endangered species highlighted in the South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program’s Species at Risk Portfolio of May 2020, all of them were reported to live in “critical habitats” greatly threatened by the “conversion of natural landscape for human use and development” including for purposes of livestock, buildings, orchards/vineyards, landscaping, roads, recreational activity (such as hiking trails, off-road vehicles tracks, and mountain biking) (see annotations 2.1, 2.2, and 3.3) (Peatt, 6-56). Further, five of the nine species and their critical habitats are described to be threatened by the use of pesticides and by intentional or unintentional introduction of invasive species (6-36). In a scathing report from 2019, World Wildlife Fund Canada reveals that the Okanagan habitats “score poorly” in their assessment of ecological representation and is one of five of Canada’s least protected areas that should be prioritised for protection (Wildlife Protection Assessment 8). Similar to what speakers such as Armstrong and Dr. Geoffrey Scudder affirm in The Pocket Desert (see annotations 2.1, 2.3, and 3.2), the “[e]xpanding human population, and related road and housing infrastructure, and agriculture development have added pressure to the region where many stressed species have already been extirpated” (8). With urban expansion and settler colonial interventions in the natural systems of the Okanagan environment, much of the landscape and its wildlife are being replaced by expectations that derive from settler colonial imagination to fit settler colonial needs. The destructive and pernicious transformation of the natural landscape thus erases, whitewashes, and warps the ongoing history of the Okanagan.

Through its sonic delivery, The Pocket Desert presentation of information and knowledge regarding the Okanagan’s unique ecology and climate appears to work in two crucial ways. Firstly, it communicates and acts as form of documentation for the concerns with the ecology and climate in great detail using the testimonies, explanations, and descriptions of the Okanagan and the exponential destruction it has faced over time to offer listeners a more academic and scientific understanding through a Western lens as well as a more personal and tangible understanding through witness accounts, song, music, and poetry. Secondly, as audio recordings have the ability of bridging the time sounds were recorded to the time the recording is listened to, The Pocket Desert allows the ecology, landscape, biodiversity, and climate being described and explained to sound as though it is still existing in the same way at the time it is viewed (see Section 1.3). Consequently, as the radio documentary appears to transcend time through its audio format, it holds the ongoing future accountable by continuously asserting what is happening and what needs to happen through a seemingly timeless compilation of audio recordings taken from the past. For instance, Armstrong’s poem featured near the beginning and the end of The Pocket Desert describes the desert-like climate and land of the southern Okanagan in a vivid way that continues to reflect what the land looks like during the warmer months nearly thirty years later (see annotations 1.1 and 4.2). Growing settler developments and modifications, such as the channelisation done to segments of the Okanagan River near Penticton and Osoyoos as mentioned by Scudder, still exist and continue to damage the ecology that surrounds them, including Osoyoos Lake (see annotations 2.1 and 2.3). While there have been changes and initiatives to reverse or prevent further damage to the Okanagan’s biodiversity and landscape since the broadcasts of The Pocket Desert in 1995 and 1996, the overhanging threat of urban expansion remains. Seeing the similarities, especially as they are emphasised as ongoing and worsening through the audio recording of The Pocket Desert, allows much of what is conveyed to remain applicable to this day.

2.3 - Revitalisation & Empowerment Efforts

As many of the speakers featured in The Pocket Desert affirm through oral accounts and explanations, Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge is vital in understanding the natural landscape of the Okanagan and how to maintain and sustain it. With the ongoing threat of settlement and urban expansion, it is imperative to take on measures and strategies to conserve and actively engage in habitat recovery to help recover the natural systems that allow for the ecology of the Okanagan to thrive. As discussed in Section 3, Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge has been informed by and works with the land and its natural systems, therefore providing understandings that are necessary to maintaining and sustaining the Okanagan and its biodiversity. The South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program (SOSCP) and ECOmmunity Place, for example, have been working with landowners, Traditional Ecological Knowledge Keepers, and the broader community to engage in projects to restore Penticton Creek, reconnect the Okanagan River floodplain, tackle invasive species, promote ecologically sustainable land-use, and more (South Okanagan 6-8, “Welcome to ECOmmunity Place” par. 7). ECOmmunity Place, hosted through the En’owkin Centre, is “described as a ‘living classroom’ providing land-based learning opportunities” (Gahman and Legault 56) in the hopes of serving “to protect Indigenous biodiversity, assist with the recovery of species at risk, advance ecoliteracy, and inspire adoption of environmentally sustainable lifestyles” (“Welcome to ECOmmunity Place” par. 3). The “living classroom” aspect employs methods of Syilx epistemology by providing experiences that feature “syilx culture and language, allowing you to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of local environment values, environmentally sustainable practices and syilx culture through artistic expression, storytelling, performance, demonstration of traditional practices, or participation in species and habitat recovery projects” (see Section 3) (par. 6). Like the initiatives of ECOmmunity Place, the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) has numerous programs, funding, and strategies based in Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge to help revitalise, recover, and protect the land the Syilx people have been stewards of since time immemorial. The 2021 Syilx siwɬkʷ (water) Strategy, for instance, seeks to “ensure that siwɬkʷ is properly respected and available for all living things” as the current “western siwɬkʷ management regimes are missing the Syilx worldview and siwɬkʷ is being disrespected” (Syilx Okanagan Nation par. 1-2). The Strategy has been “developed over the past decade by the ONA and is grounded in extensive work with Syilx citizens,” drawing from the laws of the Syilx people and the foundations of captikʷɬ, including “the voices of Elders, youth, knowledge holders, leaders, hunters, fishers, and harvesters to articulate Syilx principles and practices” (see Sections 3 and 4) (par. 4-6). As the previous organisations and projects also emphasise and what will be examined in Sections 3 and 4, much of the ONA’s work affirms how Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge and relationships to the land are essential to conservation efforts as their understanding of the land extends beyond colonial Western science and perceptions.

2.4 - References

Gahman, Levi and Gabrielle Legault. “Disrupting the Settler Colonial University: Decolonial Praxis and Place-Based Education in the Okanagan Valley (British Columbia).” Capitalism Nature Socialism, vol. 30, no. 1, 2019, pp. 50-69.

Hlady, D. A. South Okanagan Conservation Strategy: 1990-1995. B.C. Ministry of Environment, 1990, accessible online through https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eirs/finishDownloadDocument.do;jsessionid=D5AE3AABDA72A368B9BA929D1C63B1CE?subdocumentId=1155

Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society. “History of Osoyoos Lake and Area.” Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society, https://www.osoyooslake.ca/topics/lake-history/, accessed 22 June 2022.

Peatt, Alison. “Species at Risk Portfolio: May 2020.” South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program, 2020, pp. 1-58, https://soscp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Species-at-Risk-Portfolio-May-2020-final.pdf.

Schwann, Alyssa. “Ecological Wisdom: Reclaiming the cultural landscape of the Okanagan Valley.” Journal of Urban Management, 2018, pp. 172-180.

South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program: 2017-2019 Program Report. South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program, 2020, https://soscp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SOSCP-Program-Report-2017-2019-web-final.pdf, accessed 22 June 2022.

Syilx Okanagan Nation Alliance. “Syilx siwɬkʷ Strategy.” Syilx Okanagan Nation Alliance, 2021, https://www.syilx.org/projects/syilx-siwɬkʷ-strategy/.

Wagner, John R. “Landscape Aesthetics, Water, and Settler Colonialism in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.” Journal of Ecological Anthropology, vol. 12, no, 1, 2008, pp 22-38.

“Welcome to ECOmmunity Place.” En’owkin Centre, En’owkin Centre, https://enowkincentre.ca/departments-ecommunity.html.

Wildlife Protection Assessment: A national habitat crisis, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Toronto, 2019, https://wwf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/habitat-report-english-web-53019.pdf, accessed 22 June 2022.