Toolkit
Aboriginal Experiences
With more than 40 First Nations calling Alberta their home and Edmonton holding the status of being the Canadian city with the second largest number of aboriginal residents, it’s no surprise to find a thriving selection of aboriginal tourism choices – a good portion within easy reach of the city’s metropolitan region.
Amiskwaciy, Elk Island Retreat: Visitors can stay in wood-floored teepees at this private campground and experience a Sharing Circle, play a native drum, create handicrafts, or learn about native history, culture and spirituality. (AMISKWACIY - pronounced a-misk-wa-chee - is Cree for Beaver Hills. The Beaver Hills is an extensively treed, upland area rich in native wetlands and aspen dominated Boreal mixed wood forest habitat. This area supports a high diversity of vegetation, waterfowl, mammals and birds.)
Telephone: 780.998.0708
Website: www.elkislandretreat.com
Amiskwaciy, Elk Island National Park of Canada: Elk Island National Park has an extensive cultural history dating back to the receding of the glaciers. There are 227 Native sites recorded, most of which were campsites and stone tool-making sites, and 13 non-native sites which include two refuse pits, remains of homesteader cabins, and the site of Alberta's first Forest Ranger station.
Telephone: 780.922.5790
Website: www.parkscanada.gc.ca/elkisland
Bearclaw Gallery: A member of the Gallery Walk Association of Edmonton (www.gallery-walk.com), the Bearclaw Gallery carries a diverse selection of Canadian First Nations art including traditional Native and Inuit arts and crafts, original paintings and sculpture. The gallery features works by internationally acclaimed First Nations, Inuit, and Canadian native artists.
Telephone: 780.482.1204
Website: www.bearclawgallery.com
Dreamspeakers International Aboriginal Film & Television Festival: Provides an opportunity to learn about aboriginal cultures from around the world and is a rich resource for aboriginal filmmakers, for directors, scriptwriters, technicians, actors, musicians, storytellers, artists and craftspeople.
Telephone: 780.378.9609
Website: www.dreamspeakers.org
Eagle Spirit Cultural Programs: Eagle Spirit Cultural Programs Inc. is an Aboriginal company based in Edmonton, Alberta, owned by Jerry and Gisèle Wood. Their mission is to provide opportunities to enhance the understanding of aboriginal culture and heritage through educational and interactive programs.
Telephone: 780.485.2497
Website: www.eagle-spirit.ca
Father Lacombe Chapel: Find out how Father Albert Lacombe and his Métis helpers constructed a log chapel – Alberta’s oldest building – to serve the new St. Albert Roman Catholic Mission, which became the centre of the thriving French-speaking Métis settlement of St. Albert. The chapel is restored to look as it did when it was originally built in the 1860s.
Telephone: 780.459.7663 summer (May 15 - Labour Day); 780.431.2300 winter
Website: http://culture.alberta.ca/museums/historicsiteslisting/fatherlacombechapel
Fort Edmonton Park: The Native Camp at Fort Edmonton Park – Canada’s largest living history museum – depicts the long association between the Cree and Hudson Bay Company traders where natives supplied traders with food and furs while traders offered manufactured goods. At the Camp, watch the creation of intricate bead work and learn about the hides as they’re stretched, scraped and tanned. Play Aboriginal games and listen to stories of the people who first called the Edmonton region home.
Telephone: 780.442.5311 (General information); 780.496.8771 (Media inquiries only)
Website: www.fortedmontonpark.ca
Kalyna Country: Kalyna Country – Canada’s largest ecomuseum – is situated on lands that for millennia were the domain of a succession of Aboriginal peoples. Since the mid-1700s, the Native population of east central Alberta has largely been comprised of Cree as well as Métis inhabitants, who migrated into the region via the North Saskatchewan River with the establishment of the fur trade.
Of course, with time the Native and Métis inhabitants of Kalyna Country gradually settled and adopted agricultural lifestyles after trapping and buffalo-hunting were no longer able to sustain them. In the course of this process, a total of 10 First Nations Reserves and Métis Settlements were established in Northeast Central Alberta. The Cree and Métis have gradually overcome many of the challenges that they faced and today they are a vital part of the multicultural fabric of Kalyna Country.
Website: www.kalynacountry.com
Amiskwaciy, Elk Island Retreat: Visitors can stay in wood-floored teepees at this private campground and experience a Sharing Circle, play a native drum, create handicrafts, or learn about native history, culture and spirituality. (AMISKWACIY - pronounced a-misk-wa-chee - is Cree for Beaver Hills. The Beaver Hills is an extensively treed, upland area rich in native wetlands and aspen dominated Boreal mixed wood forest habitat. This area supports a high diversity of vegetation, waterfowl, mammals and birds.)
Telephone: 780.998.0708
Website: www.elkislandretreat.com
Amiskwaciy, Elk Island National Park of Canada: Elk Island National Park has an extensive cultural history dating back to the receding of the glaciers. There are 227 Native sites recorded, most of which were campsites and stone tool-making sites, and 13 non-native sites which include two refuse pits, remains of homesteader cabins, and the site of Alberta's first Forest Ranger station.
Telephone: 780.922.5790
Website: www.parkscanada.gc.ca/elkisland
Bearclaw Gallery: A member of the Gallery Walk Association of Edmonton (www.gallery-walk.com), the Bearclaw Gallery carries a diverse selection of Canadian First Nations art including traditional Native and Inuit arts and crafts, original paintings and sculpture. The gallery features works by internationally acclaimed First Nations, Inuit, and Canadian native artists.
Telephone: 780.482.1204
Website: www.bearclawgallery.com
Dreamspeakers International Aboriginal Film & Television Festival: Provides an opportunity to learn about aboriginal cultures from around the world and is a rich resource for aboriginal filmmakers, for directors, scriptwriters, technicians, actors, musicians, storytellers, artists and craftspeople.
Telephone: 780.378.9609
Website: www.dreamspeakers.org
Eagle Spirit Cultural Programs: Eagle Spirit Cultural Programs Inc. is an Aboriginal company based in Edmonton, Alberta, owned by Jerry and Gisèle Wood. Their mission is to provide opportunities to enhance the understanding of aboriginal culture and heritage through educational and interactive programs.
Telephone: 780.485.2497
Website: www.eagle-spirit.ca
Father Lacombe Chapel: Find out how Father Albert Lacombe and his Métis helpers constructed a log chapel – Alberta’s oldest building – to serve the new St. Albert Roman Catholic Mission, which became the centre of the thriving French-speaking Métis settlement of St. Albert. The chapel is restored to look as it did when it was originally built in the 1860s.
Telephone: 780.459.7663 summer (May 15 - Labour Day); 780.431.2300 winter
Website: http://culture.alberta.ca/museums/historicsiteslisting/fatherlacombechapel
Fort Edmonton Park: The Native Camp at Fort Edmonton Park – Canada’s largest living history museum – depicts the long association between the Cree and Hudson Bay Company traders where natives supplied traders with food and furs while traders offered manufactured goods. At the Camp, watch the creation of intricate bead work and learn about the hides as they’re stretched, scraped and tanned. Play Aboriginal games and listen to stories of the people who first called the Edmonton region home.
Telephone: 780.442.5311 (General information); 780.496.8771 (Media inquiries only)
Website: www.fortedmontonpark.ca
Kalyna Country: Kalyna Country – Canada’s largest ecomuseum – is situated on lands that for millennia were the domain of a succession of Aboriginal peoples. Since the mid-1700s, the Native population of east central Alberta has largely been comprised of Cree as well as Métis inhabitants, who migrated into the region via the North Saskatchewan River with the establishment of the fur trade.
Of course, with time the Native and Métis inhabitants of Kalyna Country gradually settled and adopted agricultural lifestyles after trapping and buffalo-hunting were no longer able to sustain them. In the course of this process, a total of 10 First Nations Reserves and Métis Settlements were established in Northeast Central Alberta. The Cree and Métis have gradually overcome many of the challenges that they faced and today they are a vital part of the multicultural fabric of Kalyna Country.
Website: www.kalynacountry.com
Métis Crossing is a major initiative of the Metis Nation of Alberta. Stretching 512 acres with campground and RV parking, Métis Crossing is home to a unique history, culture, and celebrations. Located on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River in the historical Victoria District, Métis Crossing allows visitors to step back in time and experience one of the earliest Métis communities in Alberta. The site is open May Long Weekend to Labour Day and is located near the junction of Victoria Trail and Highway 855 south of Smoky Lake.
Métis Crossing Zip Lines officially opened July 2008. The trained and certified zip line guides escort you through the six lines that take about forty-five minutes and offer an exhilarating experience. Watch for the wildlife below as you travel the treetops along the North Saskatchewan River. Telephone: 780-656-2229. Website: www.metiscrossing.com
Musée Heritage Museum: The museum explores the story of St. Albert, where a Métis settlement quickly grew up around Alberta’s oldest non-fortified community. Within the museum’s exhibits, the story of many Métis families are told and a Métis genealogy database can be checked to trace Métis ancestry.
Telephone: 780.459.1528
Website: www.artsheritage.ca/museum
Royal Alberta Museum – Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture: Spanning an era of more than 11,000 years and 500 generations, it’s unlike most others exhibition in Canada: there are more than 3,000 artifacts to see while recordings and interactive computer technology transport visitors from the last Ice Age to current times.
Telephone: 780.453.9100
Website: www.royalalbertamuseum.ca
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Amy Wolski
Travel Media Relations Manager, External Relations
780.969.0481
awolski@edmonton.com
Bin Lau
Director of Communications, External Relations
780.969.0463
blau@edmonton.com
Jenifer Christenson
Executive Director, External Relations
780.917.7890
jchristenson@edmonton.com
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