00:00When a landmark looks like nothing most people have ever seen before, it can mean wildly
00:04different things depending on who's beholding it. For tourists, it's a sight that they
00:09have to see up close and soak in every vivid detail. For those who have lived in that land
00:14forever, its importance runs a lot deeper to the point of becoming sacred. And for those
00:19with scientific and opportunistic minds, it's a treasure trove of mysteries that promise
00:24big rewards. And in the hunt to unravel the secrets of one completely unique Canadian
00:29lake, all of these different people have held their own pieces of the puzzle.
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00:41According to the CBC, Spotted Lake in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada looks very
00:47much like any other lake in the region during the winter and the spring thaw. But even in
00:51a frozen, this doesn't seem like a lake people see just anywhere. Because even during the
00:56coldest times of the year, it's not hard to see how Spotted Lake got its name. But while
01:01the lake is a little unusual in structure thanks to those circles throughout the body of water,
01:05that's not what makes it so world-famous. According to Atlas Obscura, Spotted Lake doesn't
01:10give the impression of consisting of one all-encompassing body of water because it's really a series of
01:16pools. Specifically, there are about 300 of these pools in all. Nonetheless, the CBC report
01:22is correct that once the ice melts in the spring, it becomes a lot harder to notice these pools.
01:28But once the summer hits, they're even more obvious than they are in the winter. As the
01:32CBC reported, Spotted Lake looks a lot different in the summer than it does in the spring.
01:38Because once the summer heat causes enough water to evaporate, those pools become the only
01:43standing liquid left in the lake. At first, it's not clear how those pools have even
01:47managed to gather what liquid they have. That's because Spotted Lake mostly sits in the desert.
01:53And according to the CBC, there's no river or creek that it drains from. And when one
01:58looks closer at those pools, they'll quickly notice the wide array of colors they can show.
02:02As the summer progresses, the pools present themselves in different hues of blue, green and yellow.
02:09So with no connection to any other body of water, it's hard not to wonder how the Spotted Lake
02:13is never completely dry. Yet while it's true that the lake doesn't have any rivers running
02:18through it, there are a lot of mountains nearby. Although Spotted Lake appears landlocked, it
02:23still finds itself filled thanks to the runoff from the nearby hills and mountains. As the
02:27snow melts each year, water flows down and collects in the basin, concealing the 300 pools
02:33anew. The CBC explained that when that snow melts and runs into Spotted Lake, it carries
02:38the minerals and salts that have gathered on the mountain with it. And since those minerals
02:43were on the mountains for hundreds of years before they drifted down, Spotted Lake is definitely
02:48rich in them. According to Atlas Obscura, Spotted Lake is particularly rich in calcium, magnesium
02:54sulfate and multiple sodium sulfates. And among the other minerals that exist there in smaller
02:59qualities are trace amounts of silver and titanium. According to the CBC, whether a pool will turn
03:05out blue, green or yellow largely depends on the composition of the minerals that have
03:11gathered in it. Of course, it takes a little more expertise than many of us are equipped
03:15with to identify that composition just by looking at them. When the weather was hot enough, visitors
03:21to Spotted Lake could walk among these mineral pools on the dry patches between them. But aside
03:26from the unpleasant smell from the lake's sulfur content, there's a reason why that isn't
03:31so easy to do anymore. According to the Okanagan Nation Alliance, Spotted Lake is recognized as
03:37a protected heritage site for the Silks Okanagan Nation. As such, the area is fenced off to
03:43discourage people from wandering into it uninvited. According to Atlas Obscura, Spotted Lake has
03:49cultural significance to Native Americans in both Canada and the United States. And since
03:54it sits on tribal land, visitors are advised not to trespass. As such, most people who visit
04:00the lake will be restricted to a view of it from here. For them, Spotted Lake is known
04:04as Kaylil X1 Hun, and they've seen its natural mineral-enriching processes go on for thousands
04:11of years. Indeed, those salty pools in Spotted Lake have been gathering their mineral resources
04:17since prehistoric times. While they might have put it in different terms, the presence of those
04:21minerals wasn't lost on the ancestors of the Silks Okanagan people. For them, Kaylilistus was
04:28considered a sacred, medicinal lake. For them, Spotted Lake has a similar restorative reputation
04:33that the famous spring in Lourdes, France, does among Catholics.
04:38In a 1979 statement relayed by the Okanagan Nation Alliance, the nation's chiefs and elders
04:44said,
04:45There are many stories told by our ancestors about the cures this lake has provided physically
04:50and spiritually through its medicine powers. The CBC reported that the First Nations to walk
04:56the land weren't able to keep Spotted Lake's significance secret forever, because there
05:00have been some key periods over the years where its minerals have been dredged up for manufacturing
05:05purposes. In most cases, those looking to extract Spotted Lake's minerals were doing this for a
05:10reason that wouldn't surprise most people. Likely familiar with the lake's medicinal reputation,
05:16some collected the minerals for spa treatments. However, a much greater dredging effort that came during
05:22the 1,910 seconds was undertaken for a widely different reason than anyone in the Okanagan
05:28Nation would have intended. To understand what was going on, one must understand that unlike the
05:33United States, Canada had entered World War I as soon as it started due to its closer ties with
05:39Britain at the time. So when the minerals in Spotted Lake were dredged up during the war,
05:43they were put towards the foremost purpose for what was supposed to be the war to end all wars. In
05:49other
05:49words, the CBC noted that they were used to make ammunition. Although Spotted Lake has long been
05:54recognized as a sacred site for Canada's First Nations, that didn't necessarily stop other
06:00interests from dredging it up. However, that finally changed in 2001. As the new millennium dawned,
06:06the chiefs of the Okanagan Nation Alliance were in talks with Canada's Minister of Indian Affairs and
06:11Northern Development. And by 2001, they would reach a deal that would ensure Spotted Lake's cultural
06:17importance remains respected. And according to the Okanagan Nation Alliance, that deal saw the
06:22group purchase Spotted Lake, as well as the 56-acre area around it. After all, it isn't just the lake
06:29itself that makes the area significant. The biggest sign of Spotted Lake's historical significance among
06:34the First Nations can be seen in the fact that it's surrounded by rock piles called cairns. These cairns
06:41typically mark graves, which makes the area surrounding Spotted Lake an ancient burial ground.
06:46According to the Okanagan Nation Alliance, more of these cairns exist around Spotted Lake than any
06:52person can count. As the aforementioned 1979 statement noted, some of these are so ancient
06:59they have sunk underground and only their tops remain above ground, some are buried altogether.
07:05According to the CBC, the SEALS people have worked to restore and protect the Spotted Lake area
07:10as both a culturally and ecologically significant site, and it is only with their permission that the
07:15site can be accessed nowadays. Not only does that mean that nobody else can legally develop on the
07:20land, but it also means that the SEALS people aren't likely to do anything of the sort either. As the
07:25Okanagan Nation Alliance noted, this is because their main goal is to preserve the lake as it is for future
07:31generations.
