UBC Okanagan’s AlterKnowledge series is hosting a panel discussion about culture, heritage, and the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the Okanagan.
Distinguished heritage and cultural workers will discuss the Okanagan’s colonial history and the role of museums and the heritage industry in representing this history.
The panel has been organized by David Jefferess and Allison Hargreaves, two UBC Okanagan professors who organize the AlterKnowledge project.
"In its recommendations for reconciling relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report identifies the need for education to “remedy the gaps in historical knowledge that perpetuate ignorance and racism,” explains Jefferess.
Public history institutions have an important role in fulfilling this goal, says Jefferess, as well as “forging new, just relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in telling the stories of this place.”
The panel discussion hosts Jordan Coble, curator with the Sncəwips Heritage Museum; Roxanne Lindley, cultural ambassador for Syilx (Okanagan) knowledge; Cuyler Page and Amanda Snyder, Kelowna Museum; and local author and historian Sharron J. Simpson.
The event is free and open to the public. It place Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Laurel Packinghouse, 1304 Ellis St., in Kelowna, 7 p.m.
The AlterKnowledge Discussion series aims to bring people together to discuss, share, and (un)learn. This year, as part of UBC’s Centennial celebration, the AlterKnowledge Centennial Series will focus on critical engagements with the way colonialism continues to shape relationships, identity, and place.