The first semester of Okanagan College’s (OC) newest student residence being open has so far been a success, but one thing has been missing this entire time – a name for the building.
Since the first wave of students moved into the building in the fall, none of them have had a specific name to refer to it, until now.
In a ceremony held by OC on Friday, Syilx Okanagan Nation Elders Pamela and Grouse Barnes unveiled two new building names: one for the entire structure and one for its gathering space.
The name for the entire building is citxʷ ki snmymyaʔtn (home for school), and the common area is snullustn, meaning a place to gather.
“It features (the building) amazing art and now, fortunately, it features traditional names,” said OC President Neil Fassina.
“We want this campus to be a place where students feel welcome and at home, and where students who are Indigenous and non-Indigenous can also feel that they are all represented and part of a community moving forward. Today is about lifting up that commitment and celebrating our relationships together.”
The pair considered the design of the building when they were brainstorming names, getting inspiration from the exterior Indigenous feather design created by Syilx artist Clint George and the Indigenous story poles created by Syilx artist Les Louis.
At Friday’s event, Anthony Isaac, the school’s Indigenous services manager, spoke on the importance of the Syilx art around the building and its impact on Indigenous students.
He shared a story with the audience about a time when his grandfather visited him when he was attending university in Ontario.
After going out for dinner, the pair returned to Isaac’s dorm and his grandfather wanted to see the inside of the building, but Isaac was uncertain and ended up not showing his grandfather the building.
“I think about that day and I think about what that would look like if it was here (at citxʷ ki snmymyaʔtn), I could be like, ‘yeah, grandpa, come on, I'd love to show you these beautiful pictographs and this beautiful artwork and the feather fins we've got on the outside,’" said Isaac.
"And just that level of welcoming that'll help offer Indigenous students that sense of pride, that we can come into a space like this, feel at home, have our languages and then really be part of a home community."
Near the end of the ceremony, Rhea Dupuis, OC’s director of Indigenous relations and reconciliation, announced that the college’s KLO Road campus will soon raise the Westbank First Nation Flag.
Flags of the local First Nations have already been raised at the Vernon, Penticton and Salmon Arm campuses.
“We are committed to honouring the Nations throughout the Okanagan Valley,” said Dupuis.
“This ceremony and the raising of Indigenous flags at our campuses remind us to honour the traditional territory of the people who were here for time immemorial.”
