I live in I Enderby, British Columbia, on Knight Avenue, on the traditional Secwepemc territory. My house is part of the city of Enderby’s historical tour (#39 on the list) and can be seen here: https://www.enderbymuseum.ca/pdfs/Enderby_Historical_Walking_Tour.pdf.  My home and the two homes beside it are all similar gable style and on long, narrow lots built by the same man in 1907. Our location is just blocks away from a small downtown, the Shuswap River, the Enderby Cliffs, and the Splatsin community center.

The Splatsin community shares on their website https://splatsin.ca/your-government/story that the Secwepemc people have resided in the region for over 10,000 years, occupying over 180,000 square kilometres (https://www.firstnations.de/development/secwepemc.htm). Splatsin villages were spread throughout the Shuswap to Kettle Falls, Washington, and from Monte Lake to Nelson, including Enderby. The village locations offered an abundance of resources for gathering. Being caretakers of the land, the Splatsinac practised thoughtful, cyclical planting and harvesting using controlled burning methods and selective hunting and fishing while ensuring the available resources were not wasted or overused. The region also provided the people with Caribou, deer, elk, and moose for hunting, while the rivers provided salmon and transportation routes for dugout canoes.

However, early settlement would impact many of these practices,people and environment. Accordring to S. Swanky https://www.shawnswanky.com/articles/the-smallpox-graveyard-in-fortunes-field-at-splatsin/. Alexander Leslie Fortune would be the first white settler to be seen in the Secwepemc territory in 1866. Fortune claims there had only been approximately 22 indigenous peoples in the area. However, there seemed to have been a significantly larger population of indigenous people occupying the territory prior to smallpox, which killed a large portion of the population in 1862. Their survivors revealed the burial grounds of those who had died from smallpox to Fortune, revealing a much larger population than suspected. By 1871, the crown had visited the area and eventually gained control over the region, including the burial sites. The burial sites of those who lost their lives to smallpox were given to settlers to use for farmland, homes and businesses. At the same time, only ¾ of acres were granted to the Splatsinac as Alexander Leslie Fortune thought Indigenous people would be better off with less land. Without a second thought, Fortune would also occupy a large amount of land, including the smallpox graveyard. Eventually, this land would be identified as an archeological site in 2016. However, the settlement agreement for this section of land continues.

Local archives at the  Enderby Museum (https://www.enderbymuseum.ca/snaphist.php) share that by the 1870s, the small town would greatly rely on the Shuswap River system and steamboats were used by settlers to ship goods between Enderby and Kamloops. Not long after, there would be a hotel, warehouse and a flour mill built along the riverside. However, winters made the rivers an unreliable shipping method and triggered the need for a railway.  The railway brought a lot of prosperity and settlers to Enderby, with stores, churches, post offices, restaurants, and newspapers all popping up between the 1890s and 1930s. First Nations Land Rights and Environmentalism in British Columbia website shares that by the 1880s, railway expansion into the Secwepemc territory brought many settlers to the region and resulted in substantial territory loss. The Secwepemc communities had a political alliance that protected the large territory and regulated the use of resources and land, which was later exploited by settlers through tourism, forestry, mining, and commercial development (https://www.firstnations.de/development/secwepemc.htm). The Enderby Museum also shares that upon early settlement Enderby’s economy was based on agriculture until the flour mill closed in 1923, triggering the region shift towards logging in dairy. Today, the logging and mill activity has greatly subsided, while area continues the dairy and livestock business.

Enderby is home to various animals, including beavers, bears, coyotes, cougars, otters, marmots, mule and whitetail deer, and salmon.  Various birds, such as eagles, hawks, Huron, Osprey, pileated woodpeckers, ravens, owls, and turkey vultures, can also be seen in the area. Common species in the area. Birch, Aspen, cedar, pine, and spruce are just a few of the trees that can be found in the area according to The City of Enderby (https://www.cityofenderby.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ExploringEnderby2015.pdf). Most of these species have been present since precontact and are still present today; however, they have been forced to retreat from the city and developments post-contact according to First Nations Land Rights and Environmentalism in British Columbia.

By using the Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society I was able to find a lot of information on invasive species in the region but I narrowed it down to some of the more familiar ones. https://columbiashuswapinvasives.org/. Among the native species, invasive species are also present today, such as purple loosestrife, which has negative impacts through its dense infestations that clog ditches and canals, impeding waterfowl habitat. Some of the waterways in the surrounding area have invasive aquatic life, such as carp, largemouth, bass, and yellow perch. There are also snails, including Chinese mystery, apple, and bandit snails, all of which out-compete native species while they feed aggressively in the aquatic ecosystem. The brown marmorated stink bug is another common invasive species in the area which destroys fruit and vegetable crops. Like most of British Columbia, Enderby and the area also have invasive Norway and roof rats, which contaminate homes and food sources, damage crops, and kill small livestock such as chickens, chickens, eggs, and other birds.

Extreme temperature increases in interior British Columbia as we saw in 2021 have resulted more action and management around the regions flooding, fire, and drought hazards that are present, and the city has implemented flood management, which includes an emergency plan, individual preparedness, and household preparedness. The government also provides emergency response and assistance. Each year, the region tries to prevent forest fires by implementing fire bands while constantly monitoring fires and informing citizens (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/prevention/fire-bans-and-restrictions).

The community offers community gardens and resources such as the Harvest Hut (https://www.edcrc.ca/food-action), which makes healthy and safe food accessible and raises awareness and education about food security. The food is provided by local gardeners and farmers who bring their extra vegetables and fruit to the harvest, and others can come and pick it up and/or trade their harvests for others. The city offers a recycling program based out of Vernon. However, the city only receives recycling pick up once every two weeks and does not offer yard waste, recycling, or pick up. When I lived in Burnaby, we had yard waste and compostable bins, which were picked up weekly and helped significantly reduce the amount our household contributed to the landfill. I am hopeful that one day, we will have the same services here in Enderby. As of today, residents have to transport their yard waste 30 km away to Salmon Arm.

As of 1905, Enderby only had a population of 500, and today, the population has only grown to 3200 according to stats Canada. With such a slow-growing population, one can only assume that substantial changes will not occur quickly.