Continued from last Thursday

“We were business people before we weren’t allowed to leave the reserves,” Louie said. “If you come to our resort [in Osoyoos], you’ll see native and non-native people workings side by side. That is so awesome and that’s what should have happened 100 years ago around here.”

The Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corp. now owns nine businesses, including a cultural centre, golf course, gas station and store, a cement plant, a construction company, the Spirit Ridge Vineyard and Spa, and the winery.

“To me, the Province of B.C. has the most to lose and the most to gain from this relationship building with First Nations people,” he said, noting B.C.’s more than 200 First Nations is more than any other Canadian province.

Louie was elected to his position in 1984 when he was 24, and has since helped pull his community out of poverty, ending the Osoyoos Indian Band’s dependence on government.

The Band has about 500 members and is now recognized as owning more businesses per capita than any other First Nations band in Canada.

Most of the approximately 700 people employed at the Band are non-First Nations and the business strategy contributes about $40 million per year to the area’s economy.

That type of initiative has put Louie on billionaire Jim Pattison’s yacht, where he was introduced to Hollywood director James Cameron. He was also honoured with the Order of Canada in 2006 and then the Business and Commerce award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation in 2004.

Louie credits his achievements to hard work and his reading habit.

“If you come to my home, you should check out my library,” he said to the audience. “The major influences in all our lives are the books you read and the people you meet.”

He said he is always a student, and when a person considers themselves an expert, they stop growing. The Nicola Valley First Nations have an opportunity to grow, he added.

“You guys are near some major highways here,” he said. “I hope with the involvement of Community Futures Nicola Valley, the mayor and MLAs, that this economy here picks up, and that the bands get involved and there is a good working relationship where good economic development happens.”

He cited too much focus on addressing social issues, rather than attempting to grow business.

“It’s the economic horse that pulls the social cart,” he aid. “But on the reserves, too many people are trying to put the cart before the horse.”

Louie agreed to speak in Merritt after being contacted by Community Futures Nicola Valley.