Unity Border Crossing,
July 20, 2024
Photos and article excerpts by Aaron Hemens, Indiginews
We are still here!
syilx, Okanagan band members cross 49th parallel colonizer borders in a show of unity on July 20, 2024.
The Unity Ride consisting of twenty riders on horseback proved a point about their territories as they crossed in a demonstration of First Nations crossing rights, on horseback on Saturday.
The Unity Ride was co-led by the Secwépemc (Shuswap) Nation, with people from both communities making up about 20 people who rode horses from “Canada” into the “United States” through the “Osoyoos-Oroville” crossing in syilx Okanagan homelands.
The border of “Canada” and the “U.S.” has split Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island for hundreds of years, with the syilx Okanagan being forced into two separate bodies in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty.
Their homelands extend from north of what’s known as “Vernon” across the border to “Colville.”
Excerpts adapted from original Indiginews article with permission by Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.
The group of horseback riders ranged in age from Youth to Elders, including 94-year-old OIB Elder qʷʕayxnmitkʷ xʷəstalk̓iyaʔ Jane Stelkia. Pictured here: Jane Stelkia and her son Aaron Stelkia
Leading the group on-foot through the border were Okanagan Indian Band Chief Byron Louis and Lower Similkameen Indian Band Chief kalʔlùpaɋʹn Keith Crow.
“This ride is not a protest. It is, rather, a unity ride that demonstrates solidarity,” said Rosanne Casimir, Kúkpi7 (Chief) of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc. That’s what brings us here, and affirming our rights as First Nations to cross this border.”
Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) y̓ilmixʷm (Chief) ki law na Clarence Louie
Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) Chief Clarence Louie was one of the riders and said he never thought he would cross a border on a horse. “The Shuswaps and the Okanagan, we’re horse-culture people,” he said. “We owe a lot of our past to them, to the horses.”
“The Americans and the British decided against our wishes, to split this 49th parallel as a border separating those two countries,” said Louie.
Leading the group on-foot through the border were Okanagan Indian Band Chief Byron Louis and Lower Similkameen Indian Band Chief kalʔlùpaɋʹn Keith Crow.
“When I crossed that border on a horse, some people came up to me and said this has never been done before, as far as our people gathering here — and it has been done before,” Louie said to the crowd.
He brought with him and referenced a picture of three unidentified chiefs who had gathered at the border for its centennial celebration in 1946. (Title) Three Native chiefs at the border centennial celebrations in 1946. Maintaining a strong relationship with their fellow members across the International Boundary has always been of the utmost concern to the Okanagan people.
“To be here today, to look at this picture that was taken in 1946 almost 60 years ago — wow, almost 60 years ago, we gathered like this to remind these Americans and Canadians,” he said. “To hear our drums here, to hear our songs here.”
Read the full, original Indiginews article by Aaron Hemens. With thanks to Aaron and Indiginews.
