On November 5th, our TMGT 3020 class welcomed Dr. Courtney Mason for a guest lecture about Indigenous communities in Canada. He gave an introduction to the historical relationship between the tourism industry and our country’s Indigenous people, along with a brief overview of the effects that the development of our country’s parks and protected areas have caused for Indigenous peoples.

The lecture was very engaging and I appreciated him weaving the history in with his own personal stories. I particularly enjoyed learning about Banff as well as the Morley and Stoney peoples. I used to work at the Fairmont Banff Springs and I always thought that the representation of indigenous people was lacking in the town and park. There has been a push for more representation and we have started to see it but more can definitely be done. As I am probably going to be working in the BC and/or AB tourism industry after graduation, I am keen to learn more about Canada’s history so that I can be an educated advocate for indigenous representation. How New Zealand has embraced indigenous tourism is commendable and I hope that during my career in Canada’s tourism industry we move closer towards their standard. I have signed up for Dr. Mason’s Indigenous Tourism course this coming winter semester and I am really looking forward to expanding my knowledge in this subject area.

Badge #9 Quiz that followed Dr. Courtney Mason’s guest lecture:

Indigenous First Nations believe in a holistic understanding of humanity’s relationship to nature where everything is connected. True

The impact of treaties on Indigenous peoples in Canada included: forced confinement on reserves and government policies of linguistic and cultural assimilation or repression

Indigenous peoples have been living in Banff/Bow Valley for 11,000 years. True

Banff hot springs was a sacred site for Indigenous peoples. They used the site for: weddings, coming of age ceremonies, baptisms, and gathering of medicinal plants

Canada’s first Indigenous IPA, Edéhzhíe, is an important step forward for Canada’s protected area network because:  it is designed and managed or co-managed by Indigenous communities. Co-management structures, where Indigenous and Crown governments partner to jointly share in the decision-making, only represent three percent of our protected areas. Elders have often referred to the significance of the region as a critical food harvesting location that has sustained communities for many generations. The region is a unique ecosystem that provides habitat for diverse wildlife, including a number of threatened species such as the boreal woodland caribou and wood bison. It will make a contribution to Canada’s international commitment to protecting 17 percent of land and fresh water by 2020. Central to establishing Edéhzhíe was the expansion of Dehcho   K’ehodi, a stewardship program where Dene guardians are responsible for many aspects of monitoring and management