Syilx artist Les Louis
In the central courtyard at UBC Okanagan, six poles lean into one another, crossed and pinned onto a seventh beam across the top.
The Story Poles, or sn̓ilíʔtn, by Syilx artist Les Louis, take their form from the frame of a traditional Syilx tule-mat lodge—the structure stripped to its bones and left standing in the elements.
Each pole represents one of the seven member communities of the Syilx Okanagan Nation.
Pictographs run the length of each pole, ancestral symbols alongside Louis’s interpretations, carrying the origin stories of the Nation in a form anyone crossing campus can read.
The work was installed in September 2016 to mark UBC Okanagan’s 10th anniversary and the UBC centennial. A decade on, the Story Poles are marking their own 10th anniversary.
Louis observed it by returning to campus during UBCO’s Homecoming celebrations for an artist talk that began at the base of the poles and carried on in the Creative and Critical Studies Building.
Syilx artist Les Louis speaks about the seven Story Poles that have stood in UBC Okanagan’s central courtyard since 2016.
“Each pole carries meaning, using pictograph symbols to communicate teachings and histories that have been passed down over time,” Louis said in 2016, as the work was being installed.
During the talk, Louis explained that the inspiration for sn̓ilíʔtn came from ancient pictographs he has visited throughout the Okanagan, as well as an earlier installation created for the Penticton Event Centre.
He noted that the work has since influenced additional story pole projects throughout the Okanagan.
The installation was curated by Susan Belton, the former curator of UBC Okanagan’s Public Art Collection, and co-funded by the Okanagan Nation Alliance and UBC.
The installation also reflects the relationship between UBC and the Nation formalized through their Memorandum of Understanding. The collection is managed by the UBC Okanagan Gallery, which puts the university’s holdings into circulation across campus and the community.
“We have worked hard to strengthen the gallery’s commitment to building a collection that reflects and celebrates Indigenous art and culture, including prioritizing commissions by Syilx and Interior Salish artists,” says gallery director and associate professor Tania Willard.
Louis’s roots are in this territory, and the work asks its audience to learn from the land it stands on: the unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation.
Today, sn̓ilíʔtn represents a commitment to the university’s relationship with the Syilx Okanagan Nation and stands as a powerful expression of Syilx culture and knowledge through storytelling. The work also reflects UBC Okanagan Gallery’s mandate to prioritize the collection and exhibition of Indigenous art with a focus on interior-based artists.
“Works such as sn̓ilíʔtn remind us of the ongoing commitments to and relationships with the Syilx people and land, and of the value of Indigenous knowledges that must be recognized, respected and reconciled,” Willard says.
