British ColumbiaYoung adults are learning through hands-on restoration work in the Okanagan, as they preparing historic spawning grounds for the return of sockeye salmon.Syilx Okanagan Nation’s project reopens spawning grounds while teaching young adults cultural practicesBrady Strachan · CBC News · Posted: Oct 25, 2025 11:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesCultural facilitator Elliot Tonasket is leading the Salmon Warriors in a program that teaches habitat restoration and traditional practices. (Charlotte Groulx/CBC)For the first time in nearly a century, sockeye salmon are freely returning to Okanagan Lake and its tributaries to spawn. For decades, a dam at the mouth of the lake blocked their passage, but a new fishway built by the Syilx Okanagan Nation now lets the salmon complete their historic migration.The milestone is the latest step in decades of restoration work aimed at bringing sockeye back to the area.Through the Salmon Warriors program, a group of young adults learn are learning how to restore salmon habitat as they reconnect with the land and their cultural practices.The participants are young adults from the Syilx Okanagan, Ktunaxa, and Secwépemc Nations. WATCH | Salmon habitat restored:Salmon Warriors restore spawning grounds as sockeye return to Okanagan In B.C.’s Interior, an initiative supported by the Okanagan Nation Alliance has brought sockeye salmon to Okanagan Lake for the first time in nearly a century. As Brady Strachan reports, a new generation of young people are helping to restore salmon spawning grounds while reconnecting with their culture. “They are receiving a hands-on course in applying that knowledge on the landscape,” said Elliot Tonasket, a cultural facilitator with the Okanagan Nation Alliance “Rather than just hearing about it, being told about it, they are actually out and participating in the activity of doing.”Next generation sees salmon returnAlong the banks of Trout Creek in Summerland, B.C., the Salmon Warriors dig, plant, and stabilize the shoreline with native vegetation, including Saskatoon trees, poplars, and rose bushes, creating conditions for the salmon to spawn and the ecosystem to thrive.”How do we restore salmon back to their natural home waters and in the same process, how do we start to rekindle our relationship as people, as families, as respective nations and as respective knowledge holders and land practitioners on the land base?” Tonasket said.Restoration work along Trout Creek, near Summerland, B.C., by the Okanagan Nation Alliance is restoring crucial spawning habitat for the sockeye salmon. (Charlotte Groulx/CBC News)The work also carries cultural and intergenerational meaning, he said.”There were generations that never saw salmon come back to these waters in their lifetime.””Those same people hoped the next generation would witness it, and here we are with this next generation, seeing the salmon return.” For the first time in over a century, sockeye salmon are able to return to Okanagan Lake 1,000-kilometre journeyTo reach Okanagan Lake, the salmon have to travel more than 1,000 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean. They swim upstream against the current of the Columbia River, passing through nine hydroelectric dams before reaching Syilx territory.The restoration project is supported by the Okanagan Nation Alliance and federal and provincial partners. Members of the Salmon Warriors program in the Okanagan watch on as fish biologist Natasha Lukey demonstrates how to plant a native seedling. (Brady Strachan/CBC)Past efforts focused on rebuilding creek habitats, monitoring fish populations, and releasing millions of salmon fry into historical spawning waters. Syilx Okanagan Nation says salmon run at risk after neighbouring nation pulls funds The significance of the fish’s return is hard to convey, says Natasha Lukey, a fish biologist with the Okanagan Nation Alliance, who works alongside the Salmon Warriors. “I can’t find the words to say how huge it is. It’s incredibly important for the Syilx Okanagan Nation. It’s been almost 100 years since these fish had the ability to go home to [Okanagan] Lake.”However, this year’s sockeye return is relatively low in numbers, Lukey said. The salmon have a four-year life cycle, with larger runs typically happening in even-numbered years. Since 2017, approximately 16 million salmon fry have been released into Okanagan tributaries and next year some of those fish will return as adults, giving the species an added boost, Lukey said.ABOUT THE AUTHORBrady Strachan is a CBC reporter based in Kelowna, B.C. Besides Kelowna, Strachan has covered stories for CBC News in Winnipeg, Brandon, Vancouver and internationally. Follow his tweets @BradyStrachan
Young ‘Salmon Warriors’ restore Okanagan creeks as sockeye return for the first time in a century
