The Okanagan

Much attention has been paid to the changing culture and construction of the Canadian metropolis, but how are the workings of whiteness manifested in rural-urban spaces? White Space analyzes the dominance of whiteness in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia to expose how this racial notion continues to sustain forms of settler privilege. Contributors to this perceptive collection move beyond appraising whiteness as if it were a solid and unshakable category. Instead they powerfully demonstrate how the concept can be re-envisioned, resisted, and reshaped in a context of neoliberal economic change.

Okanagan Odyssey is a quirky and lyrical examination of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Sticking to the backroads and byways, Gayton gently pokes and prods local ecosystems, histories, vineyards and people. From Osoyoos in the south to Armstrong at the head of the Valley, the author revels in the biological and social diversity while sampling local wines and fruit along the way. In his unique version of wine pairing, Gayton matches up local books and landscapes with local vintages, giving terroir a whole new meaning. An ecologist by profession, Gayton deftly negotiates the tension between the Okanagan that is home to many endangered species and ecosystems, and the same Okanagan that is a mecca for developers and urban refugees. Okanagan Odyssey is not a travel guide, but represents travel writing at its idiosyncratic best. Please visit Don at www.dongayton.ca.

There are many individual voices, male and female, old and young, scattered about me. These voices expressed themselves in two languages, Okanagan and English. Okanagan was unwritten for the most part. But more often than not, as if by some magnetic pull of oral tradition, the individual tribal voices unconsciously blended together with the English voice, like braided strands of thread, into one voice, story, song and prayer. That thread stretched, unbroken to the pre-time and origin, that still lived in the mystery and power of the Okanagan language; their spoken word even translated into English as it had been for well over decades before I was born. The echo of that tribal voice, in Okanagan or English, never disappears or fades from my ear, not even in the longest silences of the people or in my absences from them. —Arnie Louie

"Editing by Michelle Meade"--Copyright page.

Explore British Columbia`s world famous wine region with wine expert John Schreiner. The lush Okanagan Valley is internationally acclaimed for its wine industry. Updated and revised with 30 percent new material, John Schreiner`s Okanagan Wine Tour Guide provides succinct, insider profiles of each winery. Included are thumbnail sketches of proprietors, winemakers, and well-known wineries as well as many new ones. Schreiner peppers the book with fascinating facts acquired through his winery visits: Crowsnest Vineyards offers a red wine from the improbably named Samtrot grape; Hunting Hawk Vineyards has a second winery at the historic O`Keefe Ranch in Vernon, British Columbia; and Two Thumbs Up was the name of the Okanagan`s first $100-a-bottle Meritage wine. Schreiner guides the wine tourist to the best wines by sharing his own favorites from the region. Maps, addresses, telephone numbers and website addresses round out this valuable tour guide.

Three Okanagan legends about animals emphasis sharing and respect.

The Kelowna Story is a comprehensive full-length history of the largest metropolitan centre outside BC's Lower Mainland, a labour of love by a leading local historian whose family roots have been entwined with Kelowna's for five generations. It embraces the full sweep of central Okanagan history, starting with the days of the S-Ookanhkchinx, who enjoyed a largely peaceful existence along the shores of the lakes and rivers before the earliest explorers came to trade, followed by Father Pandosy and his Okanagan Mission in 1859. It was the mission that attracted Kelowna's first homesteaders, soon followed by cattle ranchers and orchardists, and much later by the empire-builders like the Bennett family who paved the way for today's budding metropolis. Author Sharron J. Simpson believes "history is best told through the stories of ordinary people," while allowing today's readers may not think it 'ordinary' to walk over mountain ranges to collect mail, or consider it 'ordinary' to climb into a narrow irrigation pipe to scrape the rust off the inside as it runs up and down the hillsides, or to row freight from one end of Okanagan Lake to the other. "In their time," she writes, "those who did extraordinary things were simply doing what needed to be done to get ahead. Their stories are fascinating and tell of the remarkable investment early settlers made in this community." Simpson tells the story of her hometown with an attention to detail and a passion for narrative that bespeaks her own considerable talent and deep commitment. This excellent history has been a long time coming but, all will agree, well worth waiting for.