The main entrance to the OKIB cultural immersion school (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters Staff)

By Liam Verster

Cultural Immersion School

Okanagan Indian Band officially opens new immersion school

Aug 27, 2025 | 4:06 PM

Local First Nation youth will have a new facility to learn about their language and traditions.

The Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) has officially opened its new cultural immersion school, nk̓ maplqs iʔ snm̓ am̓ ay̓ʔtn iʔ k̓ l sqilxʷtət (The place where our children learn our Indian ways).

The school, located off Westside Road, replaces the previous learning space established in 2006 and will provide education to children in Kindergarten through Grade 7.

The school was designed in collaboration with the OKIB Education, Language and Culture Department, and includes a language and culture room, including a one-of-a kind drum room; flexible learning spaces; outdoor areas to support land-based education; and gathering spaces. It also has a full-sized gymnasium, classrooms, a library, a kitchen and cafeteria, and a green space that could be used for future expansions.

A community celebration was held to mark the opening of the immersion school Tuesday, and Vernon Matters attended a second gathering and tour of the school Wednesday, August 27.

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The main entrance to the new OKIB cultural immersion school (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

The roadside view of the new OKIB cultural immersion school (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

OKIB youth performing in the cultural immersion school’s drum room for people touring the school (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

The main foyer of the new OKIB cultural immersion school (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters Staff)

The new OKIB cultural immersion school classrooms are all equipped with interactive whiteboards (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters Staff)

The gymnasium at the new OKIB cultural immersion school (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters Staff)

The kitchen and cafeteria space in the new OKIB cultural immersion school (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters Staff)

Speaking with Vernon Matters following the event and tour, Tanya Saddleman-Joe, the immersion school’s administrator, said the students will learn math, history, English and other subjects, but also get to learn the Syilx language and be educated on their culture and heritage.

“Every class goes to Okanagan Language and Culture class for a minimum of an hour each day, some of the older grades go a little bit longer, maybe an hour 15, but everyday, and that’s not something that happens, certainly at a public school, for students here,” Saddleman-Joe explained.

“Of course other band schools offer language and culture as well, it could be similar to ours, but I’m not really sure.”

She went on to say the curriculum in the Language and Culture courses will be a balance of both those aspects.

“It’s learning language, but there’s also some history aspects always shared, and there’s always cultural teachings that are shared,” the school administrator said. She noted those could range from going out on a field trip to harvest local plants, or getting salmon roe and watching them grow to smolts before releasing them back into the water.

The older school on the OKIB land was only able to fit students in Grade 1 through 7, but this new immersion school has been constructed to accommodate Kindergarten aged kids as well, and can fit more students as the population grows.

“Currently I believe we have 95 registrations, a lot of that is re-enrolling students, but this is the first year that we can include Kindergarten with us because they’ve been operating out of Snc’camala?tn, the early childhood education centre. So they can finally join Grades 1 to 7,” Saddleman-Joe told Vernon Matters.

“Two years ago, our school had 54 students enrolled from Grade 1 to 7, last school year we grew to 76 students enrolled from Grade 1 to 7, and now that we’re bringing in Kindergarten we’re up to 95. That’s significant growth for one school year.

“There’s a little bit of room to grow [at the immersion school]. We have 10 classroom spaces, and two of them are multi-grade classrooms, like a 3/4 split and a 5/6 split. So when get numbers to grow a single grade, which is ultimately our goal, our wish, then there will be enough space.”

OKIB Chief, Dan Wilson, also spoke with Vernon Matters, during which he said this is inspiring, particularly to the older members who felt they had to hide their language or were not taught it when they were young due to perceived hinderances on their education or for fear of discrimination. He shared his mother and aunt were Residential School survivors and only maintained their language by having whispered conversations in secret, but that’s not the case for this upcoming generation.

“To see what’s happening now, where our kids are belting out our language in our songs and learning how to speak it,” Wilson said.

“It just just brings a tear to [my mother’s] eye, and brings a tear to my eye. It’s such as special moment.”

Wilson added there had been discussions of building a new school for decades, and there was a lot of debate in the past about focusing only on classes taught in English. But he said a series of studies showed that learning a second language helps with students health, which helped guide the OKIB toward establishing the cultural immersion school.

The school was built with support in the form of a $19.3-million investment from Indigenous Services Canada, and a $2.85-million contribution from the OKIB.

“The opening of the nk̓ maplqs iʔ snm̓ am̓ ay̓ʔtn iʔ k̓ l sqilxʷtət Cultural Immersion School is a powerful demonstration of the Okanagan Indian Band’s commitment and hard work to advance education,” Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services, said in a written statement.

“This crucial work is grounded in language, culture, and identity — Chief Wilson and the entire community have demonstrated their tremendous vision and leadership. This new facility will be a space where children can grow academically while staying connected to their identity, as Syilx people. This work is essential to the legacy and longevity of Indigenous culture.”

The OKIB immersion school will open its doors for the first day of school Tuesday, September 2.

“We’re really excited for our students, for our families, for the community to have a beautiful, spacious facility to teach our children,” Saddleman-Joe added.

“They certainly deserve to be in a safe and comfortable and beautiful space. I’m just happy, so happy.”