The Secwépemc Museum and Heritage Park is run by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation on their reserve across the river from downtown Kamloops, and offers the best introduction to the Indigenous history of the BC interior. The indoor museum covers Secwépemc traditional life, language, plant knowledge and post-contact history; outside, a 12-acre heritage park includes a reconstructed traditional winter pit-house village and an archaeological site spanning 2,000 years of continuous occupation.
The park is open year-round; guided tours are offered in summer and are strongly recommended. The neighbouring Kamloops Indian Residential School — operating from 1893 to 1978 and now the focus of one of the most painful chapters in Canadian history — is partly accessible and includes a memorial trail. Allow at least two hours; this is one of the most important Indigenous heritage sites in the province.