2026 Webinars
#4. Using traditional knowledge and science in restoration using beaver mimicry to revive our watershed within the Okanagan Nation
Date: Thursday, February 19 at 12 pm PT / 1 pm MT.
Presenter: Delany Hall, tmixʷ (all living things) technician, Okanagan Nation Alliance
Coteay Creek, a tributary of akskʷəkʷant (Inkaneep Creek), flows into suwiw̓s (Osoyoos Lake). The area surrounding that creek has dried up and, along with the wetlands, the beavers — or stunx in nsyilxcən — have disappeared. Delaney Hall and his team know that wetlands provide critical habitat for aquatic beings such as fish and amphibians, as well as land animals such as moose, deer and elk. They also provide fire protection, and are essential systems to help buffer the impacts of a warming climate. Delaney also knows that the beaver can teach us how to restore these wetlands, and that the elders in his community are able to share the historical location of many beaver dams where you no longer see evidence of their prior existence. In this talk, Delaney Hall will speak to a project partnership with the Osoyoos Indian Band and the B.C. Wildlife Federation involving the introduction of beaver analogues as one tool being used to help recover wetland ecosystems.
