School District 83 building in Salmon Arm (submitted photo)

By Pete McIntyre

District 83

School district looks at name change to honour First Nations

May 31, 2024 | 6:00 AM

The North Okanagan Shuswap School District (District 83) will work with First Nations to discuss changing the district’s name to a Secwépemc word or phrase.

The District 83 board passed a motion to pursue a partnership with the four First Nations in the area.

Chelsea Prince, the district’s director of instruction, Indigenous Education, said in a report to the board, when the Armstrong-Spallumcheen (School District 21) and Shuswap (School District 89) school districts amalgamated in 1997, the Quelmúcw Education Council, then known as the First Nations Education Council, was “very disappointed” with the change of name to the North Okanagan Shuswap School District.

“While the land that district schools sit upon in the Armstrong area is territory that is jointly claimed by the Syilx Okanagan and the Secwépemc peoples, the whole school district sits on traditional Secwépemc territory,” Prince explained.

“Positioning “North Okanagan” before “Shuswap” may not have been intended as prioritizing one area over the other, but that is how it can be perceived. In addition, the word “Shuswap” is an outdated and historically incorrect term invented by settlers, which is really the word “Secwépemc.”

Council grants

Vernon to distribute over $50k in Council Discretionary Grants, $20K to the food bank

15h ago

Possible firearm involved

One person apprehended in connection with suspicious activity in Coldstream

Dec 13, 2025

Fatal Collision, Highway Closed

One person dead in crash near Revelstoke

Dec 13, 2025

Prince said the board would take “another important step toward reconciliation” by changing the name to a Secwépemctsín word or phrase.

“The choice of word/phrase will be carefully considered, and Quelmúcw Education Council members are in the process of consulting with Elders and community members,” Prince stated.