Upper Nicola Band

About Upper Nicola Band

In an effort to offer greater transparency by our band administration and our government Leadership of Chief and Council, and in accordance to our Mission Statement to be accountable, we are happy to offer to our visitor the audited statements, as published by the Government of Canada (Department of Indian & Northern Affairs Development). The link we offer to you here is a direct link to the Government of Canada's website and is subject to their exercise to make public the affairs of Upper Nicola and therefore are not the direct responsibility of management or leadership of Upper Nicola.

Click here to visit the site of the Canadian government, please click the Federal Funds link (button) to view the Upper Nicola Indian Band's Audited Statement(s). Coming Soon will be a detailed Auditor's Report which will be available to membership on the membership page.

Upper Nicola Band is located 45 km east of Merritt and 90 km south of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The Upper Nicola Band has 8 reserves, numbered 1 through 8, which are located in the general vicinity of Nicola Lake and Douglas Lake (click here to jump to the map below). The two main residential communities are located at Quilchena on Nicola Lake IR #1, and at the west end of Douglas Lake IR #3.

For a point of interest: the two residential reserves are known to us who live here as: Spaxomin (Douglas Lake) and Quilchena (Nicola Lake).

The department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) lists the total Band membership at March 1997 to be 771. The Band’s own records indicate an existing membership total of 854 as recent as June 2005. The number of Band members residing off reserve is 473. The on reserve population (Band members, other Band members, non-status spouses, children, and others) is 333. The on reserve population is expected to grow to be 550 in five years. One of the contributing factors to any increase will be an influx back to the reserve by off reserve members.

The major employer on the reserve is the Band; however, there are many Band members who earn their livelihood from ranching or ranching related activities. Recently, a joint venture forestry operation was started with the help of a local logging operation. Seasonal employment opportunities now exist in this field for Upper Nicola Band members. Other on reserve members must travel to the community of Merritt and surrounding area to secure employment.

For a more in-depth community profile, please *click here to check out our Community Profile document prepared by Collette Manuel and Dolly Kershaw in the summer of 2003.

*Please note: this document is in PDF format so you will require to have installed on your computer the Acrobat Reader software. Click here if you require it.

Governance of Upper Nicola Band

Political Affiliations:
Okanagan Nation Alliance & Nicola Tribal Association

Chief & Council:

Chief Timothy [ petkwumen ] Manuel- email

Councilor David Coutlee - email
Councilor Sharon Lindley- email
Councilor Danny Manuel - email
Councilor Wallace Michel - email
Councilor Harvey McLeod - email
Councilor Kevin Ned - email

Term in Office: May 2006 ~ May 2008

EMAIL NOTE: Not all the council members are presently actively using their email so please verify with each of them before you send them email - if you need to contact any of them, the Chief account is active and you can use that email to send mail to any of those council members not presently using their email.

Thank you