'Yaqan Nu'kyi

Yaqan Nukiy, meaning “where the rock stands,” is an important place in the Kootenay River valley south of Kootenay Lake. The Lower Kootenay people live in a landscape of wetlands and mountain waterways, connected by the river to relatives farther upstream. Their distinctive bark canoe, pointed at both ends like the nose of a sturgeon, was well suited to travel on these waters. Fish, waterfowl and the plants of the floodplain sustained communities along the river and lake.