From uncle to nephew, a responsibility to salmon — and children — is carried on

By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews At takliʕaickst (Slocan Lake), caylx (Richard Armstrong) walks over to a group of elementary students, shaking each child’s hand and thanking them for their help. On Tuesday afternoon, the syilx Elder and knowledge keeper guided the children in the ceremonial release of 10,800 young salmon fry into the lake — part of an effort to bring the important fish back to upper part of nx̌ʷntk’ʷitkʷ (the Columbia River). The students had raised the salmon themselves since January, part of the Okanagan Nation Alliance’s (ONA) Fish in Schools (FinS) program. As caylx sent the students back to their classrooms with warm smiles and messages of gratitude, the gleeful children exchanged a chorus of thank-yous. Hundreds of classrooms across 64 schools in the Okanagan…

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