Canada’s Indigenous tourism plays an increasingly important role in communicating Indigenous culture and history. It not only provides authentic insights, but also an examination of the truth about the past of the First Nations of the Ahornland. Indigenous experiences are a door opener in countless areas: They promote real encounters with culture and history, create a basis for understanding between cultures and support the offers and thus also the economic growth of indigenous communities.
Former residential schools from coast to coast have also become tourist destinations and thus places of encounter and reconciliation. Between the late 19th century and 1996, more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were assimilated in around 130 boarding schools, and their language and culture were wiped out. Abuse and forced labor were the order of the day. Phyllis Webstead, a survivor, says today, “The sense of worthlessness and insignificance that was instilled in me from day one on the mission affected my life for many years.” The discovery of hundreds of children’s bodies in May 2021 on the grounds of the boarding school in Kamloops (British Columbia) brought the suffering of Canada’s indigenous population into focus worldwide. Today, some of these schools are prominent witnesses of history, helping First Nations tribes rediscover and preserve their cultural identity. Here are some examples of schools that have been transformed into touching meeting places by their victims.
St. Eugene Golf Resort in Cranbrook, British Columbia
In the Kootenay Rocky Mountains, where modern lodges blend photogenic with their alpine backdrop, the St. Eugene Resort seems at first like a strange alien body. Entirely made of gray stone and crowned by a red roof with bell tower and crucifix, it is more reminiscent of a fortress than a welcoming dwelling. From 1912 to 1970, as the St. Eugene Mission, the resort was a boarding school for around 5,000 children of the Ktunaxa Nation and other First Nations. The decision to turn the horror site into a resort was not easy for the tribe. Many would have preferred to burn the stigma, but in the end the advice of Elder Mary Paul paved the way towards reconciliation with the place: “Because the Kootenay Nation were stripped of their cultural identity in this boarding school, it is only right that it was given back to them here becomes.” Today, the Mission is a 125-room luxury hotel that includes a golf course and casino, a spa, sauna, swimming pool and campground. The Ktunaxa Interpretive Center organizes 90-minute tours with survivors who talk about their culture and share their experiences. Their work at the resort, they say, is part of their healing and reconciliation with what happened there. They enable special encounters through storytelling around the campfire and workshops for traditional handicrafts. https://www.steugene.ca/
National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada, Manitoba
On the outskirts of Portage la Prairie, an hour’s drive west of Winnipeg, the former Portage Indian Residential School is home to the National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada. Today, the old boarding school building is owned by the Long Plain First Nation. Opened in 1915, the school was attended by children of the Long Plain First Nation and other First Nations from northern Manitoba. It was administered by various church organizations until 1969, and by the Department of Indian Affairs until it was closed in 1975. In 2005, the province of Manitoba designated the building as a memorial. In 2018, the museum started with two small rooms, and in 2020 it was also declared a national memorial. In turning the boarding school into a museum, the Long Plain First Nation wanted to preserve this dark chapter in Canada’s history for posterity. The place should also be a place of healing. Today visitors will find outstanding exhibits on the ancient culture of the Long Plain First Nation and the impact of the boarding school system.
www.nirsmuseum.ca
St. Mary’s Residential School in Mission, British Columbia
The land of the Stó:lō Nation once stretched from Yale in Fraser Canyon to the mouth of the Fraser River. The tribe offers a varied tourism program with numerous cultural tours and experiences. In addition to traditional activities such as carving, weaving and storytelling in the magnificent Coqualeetza Educational Longhouse, Stó:lō Guides offer visitors tours of St. Mary’s Residential School in nearby Mission. The tours begin in the chapel with an introduction to the history of the school, which was closed in 1984, before entering the school building with its canteen and dormitories for boys and girls. The tours are a good opportunity to visit one of the few boarding schools that are still intact and to be guided through history by eyewitnesses.
https://www.stolonation.bc.ca/
Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario
The Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School in Brantford operated from 1828 to 1970. Here abducted children of the Six Nations (Onondaga, Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Seneca and Tuscarora) and other First Nations in Ontario and Québec were educated. After closing, the building reopened in 1972 as the Woodland Cultural Center under the leadership of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI). Since then, the non-profit organization has been working to preserve and promote indigenous culture and runs a museum that, with over 50,000 artifacts, is one of the largest indigenous museums in Canada. Visitors can visit the former boarding school both online and on site. Since 2014, the Woodland Cultural Center has been raising funds with the Save the Evidence campaign to restore the building and construct an information building.
https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/
Information for the editors:
For more information on Indigenous tourism in Canada and countless coast-to-coast experiences, visit: https://destinationindigenous.ca
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation am 30. September, vormals Orange Shirt Day:
Orange Shirt Day was called the Day of Remembrance before it became National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The name was a reference to the orange shirt that Phyllis Webstad, a survivor, was taken to the Residential School on the day she entered school.
https://beyond.ubc.ca/orange-shirt-day/
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About Destination Canada
Destination Canada is Canada’s official tourism marketing company. We want to inspire the world to discover Canada. Together with our partners in the tourism industry and the territorial and provincial governments of Canada, we promote and market Canada in eleven countries worldwide, conduct market research and promote the development of the industry and its products.
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Press contact:
Destination Canada proudly [re]presented by The Destination Office
Miss Kirsten Bungart
Lindener Strasse 128
44879 Bochum
fon ..: +49 234 32498075
web ..: http://www.kanada-presse.de
email :
About Destination Canada
Destination Canada is Canada’s official tourism marketing company. We want to inspire the world to discover Canada. Together with our partners in the tourism industry and the territorial and provincial governments of Canada, we promote and market Canada in eleven countries worldwide, conduct market research and promote the development of the industry and its products.
You can receive regular updates on our initiatives by subscribing to our ‘News’, available as an RSS feed or email. Visit us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel. More information is waiting for you at www.canada.travel/corporate
