Theatre

Story tellers told animated stories with gestures, movements, costumes and songs. They wore animal skins and furs and decorated forms of dress. Stories that taught the Okanagan people the morals, values and beliefs entailed with being Okanagan.

These stories and they way they were told was very much accurate to the way live theater is performed today. People were gathered, usually around campfires and a the storyteller would stand, and begin the first forms of monologues to the area. When the storyteller was finished the audience would show their appreciation with laughter, smiles, tears and thought.

With the introduction of residential schools and laws forbidding the practice of Aboriginal culture and traditions Okanagan theater was lost. With the majority of Okanagan children being sent to the Kamloops Indian Residential School (1890-1978) in Kamloops, BC, Canada or St. Eugene's (1898-1970) in Cranbrook, BC, Canada.

However, from 1932-1942 Anthony Walsh became a teacher for the Inkameep Indian Day School. Anthony Walsh, a man ahead of his time, who was fascinated with the Aboriginal culture integrated Aboriginal Arts into the classroom. Breaking down barriers, breaking a few rules and following his heart, he introduced the Arts back to the people of the Inkameep Indian reserve.

It was 1938 and Mr. Walsh had already initiated a 2 year successful visual arts program launching "Canadian Nativity" (1936) and "St. Francis and the birds" (1938) both painted by Francis Baptiste and both exhibited nationally and internationally. At a picnic on an Oliver hillside a young boy told Anthony Walsh an animated story about Bear. Hunched over, moving slowly and swiping his hands Anthony Walsh saw the potential for a drama program. The child actors became the drama troupe known as the Can-Oos-Sez-Skay-Loo Players winning awards and receiving international recognition and invitations for performance.

In 1940 Anthony added a new component ‘INK’ a 7 minutes per day mock radio station where the Okanagan children got to perform songs and would take turns being a radio announcer. After his resignation in 1942 the arts program dropped and the Inkameep Day School eventually closed finding Anthony Walsh irreplaceable and his work incomparable. It wasn't until 1979 when a group of elders and community members started a project which formed the Okanagan Indian Education Society to develop curriculum to initiate a first nations educational institute. In 1989 the first Arts program was taught out of what became the En'owkin Center. Today there are numerous arts programs: Media, theatre, visual arts, traditional art expression, creative writing and traditional and contemporary dance. In 2004 the En'owkin Center hired the late Quincy Paul, Robyn Kruger, Billie Kruger, Victoria Baptiste and Candice Gabriel to form the foundation for an Aboriginal live performance troupe "Nak’ulamen Performance Collective" and were later joined by Charles Kruger, Aimee Lezard and Shayla Allison.

The Nakulamen Performance Collective specialized in combining traditional characters, stories and songs to produce contemporary performances available to the general public. Performances that included, theatre productions, monologues, dance, language and sometimes media.

For more information on Okanagan theatre visit the Nak’ulamen web page or tour the Osoyoos Museum’s virtual museum exhibit of the Inkameep Day School.