Sp̓iƛ̓əm

All that we do comes back to the land and our relationship to the land. Chief Sp̓iƛ̓əm, bitterroot, represents rootedness. Their role in community is to continuously bring the human people back to their roots in important processes like decision making that affect all life. When human people understand their roots, they will be more inclined to have a relationship with, to nurture, protect, and care for with future generations in mind.

Stewardship and Relationships

Chief Bitterroot symbolizes stewardship, nurturing, relationships, and protection (see Westbank First Nations Governance Structure).

Chief Bitterroot is Chief of all things in the ground. Chief Bitterroot is considered by the Syilx to have more of a feminine energy. The importance of roots, both metaphorically and literally, is in grounding, and in providing care and nurturing the land and the people. Bitterroot has been and is continually used as food and medicine.

• Syilx Okanagan Protocols with Anone Kampe video from Visit Penticton
• Bitterroot and Indigenous Knowledge, resource from the First Nations Education Steering Committee