By Aaron Hemens Local Journalism Initiative Reporter cewel’na Leon Louis of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band unlocks the gate that keeps trespassers away from k?lilx’w (Spotted Lake), and then cautiously descends down a winding, brush-covered dirt path. He stops in front of the small body of water, which resembles something from another planet with its chalky white surface dotted with colourful mineral deposits, and backed by the stark landscape of the Okanagan desert. On a day in late October, Louis took a group of visitors from the nearby Osoyoos Lake Water Science Forum to see the site. The syilx Elder and knowledge keeper has spent decades taking syilx people down to k?lilx’w, located seven km west of sw?iw?s (Osoyoos) in syilx homelands, to help them heal, whether it be physically
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