By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews This story is a collaboration between IndigiNews and The Narwhal. Nine-year-old John Smithers cradles a tiny burrowing owl in his hands, preparing to release it into the grasslands of Upper Nicola Band (UNB) territory. Like other young syilx people, he\u2019s grown up hearing stories about the small birds of prey whose populations have plummeted in the region in the last century or so. The owls \u2013 known in syilx culture as guardians, guides or messengers \u2013 were \u201conce a common element\u201d in landscapes stretching from the southern Interior of \u201cB.C.\u201d all the way to Manitoba, according to \u201cCanada\u2019s\u201d Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife. Now, burrowing owl sightings are rare. In 2003, the Government of Canada listed the burrowing owl as… <\/p>\n
By Aaron Hemens, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews This story is a collaboration between IndigiNews and The Narwhal. Nine-year-old John Smithers cradles a tiny burrowing owl in his hands, preparing to release it into the grasslands of Upper Nicola Band (UNB) territory. Like other young syilx people, he\u2019s grown up hearing stories about the small birds of prey whose populations have plummeted in the region in the last century or so. The owls \u2013 known in syilx culture as guardians, guides or messengers \u2013 were \u201conce a common element\u201d in landscapes stretching from the southern Interior of \u201cB.C.\u201d all the way to Manitoba, according to \u201cCanada\u2019s\u201d Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife. Now, burrowing owl sightings are rare. In 2003, the Government of Canada listed the burrowing owl as... <\/p>\n