Okanagan Sources

Thomas S. Abler is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Waterloo and the author of A Canadian Indian Bibliography, 1960-1970.

This book was prepared in the early 1980s to provide a history and
reference book on the Okanagan people. It includes lengthy essays by
persons with graduate degrees in anthropology, archaeology, history,
linguistics, and education. Also included are brief literary
contributions by Okanagan students who were at levels ranging from Grade
2 to Grade 10 at the time of submission. It is reported that publication
was delayed by the difficulties in typesetting those portions of the
text in Okanagan.

In the longest chapter in the book, James Baker presents what is known
of the archaeology of the Okanagan and their neighbors. He commences
with the debate over the entry of humans into the Americas and carries
the story to historic times. His emphasis on the details of
archaeological phases may prove trying to the nonspecialist. However,
his discussion of Okanagan economic adaptation as revealed by early
historic accounts has considerably more life.

Douglas R. Hudson provides a summary of the nature of Okanagan culture
and society. A temporal framework is lacking. The kinship diagrams
confuse rather than enhance understanding. Despite these flaws and
overlap with aspects of Baker’s contribution, the chapter gives an
overview of the “traditional” Okanagan way of life.

A stimulating view of the early impact of the fur trade and other
aspects of European occupation of North America is provided by Carol
Abernathy Mellows. She notes the importance of the Okanagan in the first
half of the nineteenth century as a source of horses and labor for fur
traders. Less satisfactory is Duane Thompson’s discussion of the
Oblate mission. Does he really believe the trade language of western
America, the Chinook Jargon, had a vocabulary of only 132 words? This is
an example of his uncritical reading of his sources.

An introduction to the Okanagan language is provided with remarkable
clarity by Anthony Mattina and Clara Jack. Thoughts on providing
effective education for Okanagan students are presented in essays by
Robert Sterling and Don Quaglia. The artist and poet Ben Able and
Okanagan students present images of what it means to be Okanagan.

The diversity of this book is such that almost any reader will find
some portions far more stimulating and useful than others. Careless
editing and proofreading is also an irritant. Nonetheless, this is a
book that should be part of any collection of studies of Canada’s
Native peoples.