I was immediately aware of an animated buzz of conversation when Linda and I entered the Lower Similkameen Indian Band Family Centre in Cawston. Approximately 40 Elders were already seated at two long tables, obviously delighted to see their friends. I sensed an aura of mutual respect and reverence, and also joy.

We had been invited by Stella Snow, who for some years has been a force in organizing social functions for Elders. She’s a lady with the will and skill to get things done. “Each month we meet to celebrate the birthdays of Band Elders,” she told us. “We have a meal and then we usually play disco bingo. Today an Elvis impersonator will perform for us.”

This month Stella was one of half a dozen Elders celebrating birthdays. I asked her to tell us about herself. “I was born in Merritt,” she began. “My birth mother had a problem with alcohol and couldn’t look after me and my twin brother. At six weeks we were sent to live with Teresa Squakin, a childless woman in the Lower Band. She didn’t adopt me formally, but she was very good to me and became my mother. She took in quite a few children. Being fluent in the Okanagan tongue, this is what we spoke in our home. When I started school I didn’t speak English and my teachers scolded me and twisted my ears for speaking Okanagan. For my mother it was not an easy time. There was no family allowance and we didn’t have electricity. To wash clothes we used a washboard. My birth mother showed no interest in me and I saw her only once.”

Now confident and articulate, she isn’t content to just watch others making things happen. “I cooked for up to 5,000 people at a National Conference in Edmonton,” she said. “I try to involve Elders in events. I brought 12 Elders to the National Conference. We teamed up with the Penticton Band. They rented a Greyhound bus and we paid them one hundred dollars each.”

Stella worked as an alcohol treatment counselor, and also as a homemaker. For some years she was a foster mother but needed to back away from this when she was diagnosed with cancer. She underwent treatment, then undaunted, again plunged wholeheartedly into band activities. Being fluent in the Okanagan language she is a translator for the band.

Noticing that people were beginning to line up for the buffet, Stella urged us to join them. Various Elders had contributed their specialty and it was a tantalizing array. I was pleased when I saw that Margaret Thomas had brought her fried bread. She’s a master of the craft and I felt lucky to get a piece.

When we had tucked as much food as possible into our stomachs, including a generous slice of delicious birthday cake, it was time to step back into the past with Levi Bent, the Elvis impersonator. I had talked with him briefly before the meal and had found him to be quiet spoken and modest, at best a low key version of Elvis. When he stepped to the mike though, his persona became instantly transformed, as though a bolt of lightning had energized him.

Levi performed popular tunes like “Don’t be Cruel, Falling in Love with You, and Don’t Step on my Blue Suede Shoes.” His intricate foot work and body moves were classic Elvis. I was reminded of the days when the famed entertainer induced heights of ecstasy and giddiness in teeny boppers, and even swooning. We were an approving audience. Some Elders sang along or just nodded their heads with the music. When Levi sang a verse of “You’re Nothing But a Hound Dog” in the Okanagan tongue, we were all delighted.

Later I asked Levi about his onstage persona. “Elvis is my main influence,” he said, “also dancing in Pow Wows.” He’s a member of the LSIB.

Levi’s parents were present. “A couple of years ago Levi attended an Elvis impersonators concert,” his mother told me. “When he came out of there he was convinced he could do that.

Watching Levi perform, eating Margaret’s fried bread and other sumptuous dishes, having conversations with Elders and hearing the Okanagan language, for Linda and me it was an uplifting, soul enriching experience.