 Omak and Okanogan have shared a rivalry in high school sports.During the Great Depression of 1933, several residents of Omak were forced to work in nearby communities.As a result, the United States Bureau of Reclamation promoted work which was available as part of an improvement project at Grand Coulee Dam in nearby Coulee Dam, which employed approximately 5,000 people between 1933 and 1951 when the megaproject ended.