City of Vernon transfers copyright to legendary Ogopogo to B.C. Indigenous nations
The legal rights to the legendary creature in a British Columbia lake have been transferred to an alliance of Indigenous nations who say the Ogopogo has always been part of their spiritual teachings.
Council members in the Okanagan city of Vernon voted unanimously to transfer the Ogopogo copyright it has held for 65 years to the eight-member Okanagan Nation Alliance.
Ogopogo means spirit of the lake in the alliance's Syilx language.
“It just makes sense,” Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming said in an interview. “The story comes from the Okanagan Syilx people and it makes sense for them to hold the copyright and not the City of Vernon.”
For $1, council voted to assign and transfer to the Okanagan Nation Alliance all copyright, title, interest and property including trademark rights arising from the commercial and non-commercial use of the Ogopogo name.
Cumming said the city never used the name for economic gain, but twice granted permission for its use in children's books.
Okanagan Indian Band Chief Byron Louis was not available for comment, but Okanagan Nation Alliance administrator Pauline Terbasket, who signed the copyright documents, said the transfer was “important” for the nation.
The councils representing Vernon and the Okanagan Indian Band meet monthly to discuss issues between the two governments, the mayor said.
“There's lots to talk about, and we're forming a stronger and stronger institutional relationship and items like this make good sense at this time,” said Cumming.
Indigenous legend says the Ogopogo inhabits Okanagan Lake, which at 135 kilometres long and depths of more than 230 metres, touches the cities of Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon.
Tourism Kelowna says on its website that stories about a lake creature date back thousands of years to area Indigenous Peoples who spoke of N'ha-a-itk, the spirit of the lake.
“Stories of N'ha-a-itk changed over the years as European settlers transformed the stories they heard into a creature, which later became known as Ogopogo and the purported sightings over the years continue to strengthen its legend,” says the website.
Tourism Kelowna says photos and sightings of Ogopogo have so far been inconclusive.
A statue of a green, serpent-like figure resembling what may be an Ogopogo is located in downtown Kelowna near the lake shore.
“Some say its head looks like a horse, while others say it's reptilian or goat-like,” says the website.
Vernon council agenda minutes say the city obtained the Ogopogo copyright in 1956 from local resident Arthur Gilbert Seabrook, who first registered the copyright in 1953.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.