User:LoveNsyilxcn/sandbox

The Westbank First Nation (Westbank: tqaʔtkʷɬniwt / stqaʔtkʷɬniwt) is a self-governing First Nations band in the Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada, and is one of eight bands that comprise the Okanagan Nation Alliance of Syilx people. Westbank First Nation (WFN) is governed by one chief (Chief Robert Louie) and four councillors, elected every three years by WFN membership (the current term is 2023-2025). As of April 2019, WFN's membership totalled 914 members, and employs more than 200 people.

Government[edit]
Westbank reserves were once part of the Okanagan Indian Band until they separated and became an independent band in 1963. 27 years later, in 1990, a framework agreement was entered into allowing community-based self-government to be negotiated.

Indigenous self-government in Canada is an agreement between an Indigenous community and provincial and federal government. It allows the community to make all decisions regarding their people, laws, land, and resources. [note to Llana and Kim, great addition]

On May 6, 2004, the Westbank First Nation Self-Government Act received royal assent and became law. WFN self-government officially came into force April 1, 2005.

Following the enactment of self-government, WFN members developed the Westbank First Nation constitution, which sets out how the community is governed and how it exercises its jurisdiction. Some of the other areas the constitution provides for are democratic and legitimate elections and government; internal financial management; accountability to WFN members; conflict of interest rules; law enactment procedures; land rules and referendum procedures. [Note to Llana and Kim, it's great that you've included a link to the constitution, but please add this as a citation rather than a direct link to the document with the "cite button above. If you need help with how to do this, please let me know.]

Westbank First Nation has many business owners located on Westbank lands. The retail directory has a list of all the businesses.

Language
Westbank First Nation people are united through their culture, customs, and language, nsyilxcən/nqilxʷcən. nsyilxcən, an Interior Salish language, is the traditional language of Westbank First Nation. In the entire Okanagan Nation population, there are 6, 331 people. 1.3% are fluent speakers, 6.6% are semi-speakers, and 16% are active learners. The nsyilxcən language holds thousands of years of knowledge of the land and contains teachings about natural laws. As syilx/Okanagan people, it is understood that humans are to act as caretakers of nxʷəlxʷəltantət, that which gives us life, including language and land.

Westbank First Nation has created nsyilxcən learning resources for anyone wishing to learn the language. '''[NOTE to Llana and Kim - here is where you could add information about lower case use in the language with the source I linked in your assignment marking comments, if you want. Overall, this is a wonderful section - great work!]'''

Westbank First Nation has a museum which provides a protected place for sqilxʷ culture and heritage while actively working to uplift syilx voices and share about the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the syilx people. The museum does guided tours and shares stories of the land with all who are interested in learning. sncəwips is the nsyilxcən word that translates to  ‘a conversation with an ancestor’.