Ron went off visiting old boilermaker friends while Carol, Roger and I went to this 20,000 square foot interpretive centre to discover the land, the legends, the people. It is a 9 million dollar structure which has interpretive education and research facilities offering insight into the sensitive ecosystem of plants and animals. The 'Osoyoos Arid Biotic Zone' is a continuation of the Sonora Desert that extends from Mexico right up to the Okanagan Valley and is Canada's only desert. Osoyoos receives over 2000 hours of sunshine annually. There were stories and films of the Indian Band's history and way of life. We saw a demonstration on rattlesnakes and could touch a bull snake. Then we walked around the land to the replica Indian Village. The were many steel sculptures depicting life as it was years ago. Here is a man spear fishing, a woman drying fish, a half carved canoe under cover and teepee in the background. The whole centre was very well done. Today there are about 500 people in the Band and they own and operate about 35 businesses incuding a vineyard, winery, campground and 5 star hotel.
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