When the massive, carved cedar doors swing open on the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, BC in summer 2008, two of Canada’s oldest cultures look forward to displaying their history in a whole new light.
The centre will focus on the story of the Squamish and Lil’wat nations, whose traditional and shared territories range from North Vancouver to Lillooet. For Julie Baker Sxwelhchaliya, the $30-million project is a “dream come true.” A member of the Squamish Nation Tribal Council and the new centre’s board of directors, she says, “This is about more than just a building—it’s about two First Nations coming together to share our world through our own voices, our own words and our own art. We will welcome the world as we would welcome a guest into our own homes—with honour and pride.”
Baker Sxwelhchaliya notes the centre is “not a museum, although it will have museum-like qualities, such as galleries, to preserve and exhibit artifacts.”
“We have introduced creative innovations—weaving classes and canoe building—which will reintroduce master skills, and are much more than glass-box displays,” Baker Sxwelhchaliya says. “It will be a people-oriented place: our First Nations greeters and tour guides, artists and storytellers, will offer visitors the opportunity to interact meaningfully with our people.”
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre is the most recent example of the growing trend in Canadian Aboriginal tourism. The influential Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia has helped lead the charge in the province, and some 200 Aboriginal-run tourism businesses have been created in the past decade alone. The association’s vice-chair Linnea Battel says that a chance to experience authentic Aboriginal hospitality and heritage is a magnet for visitors and distinguishes Canada in the world.
Notes Battel: “Canada is seen as a young country, when in reality, the territory and its First Peoples’ connection to the land go back to time immemorial.”
www.aboriginalbc.com
Here, a roundup of Canadian Aboriginal travel opps:

• Haida Heritage Centre: Delve into the Haida Nation’s past, present and future in a handsome, new, interactive cultural centre evocative of Aboriginal villages that once dotted Haida Gwaii, “the islands of the people,” in northern British Columbia. Haida people have lived here for some 12,000 years. You’ll learn about the Potlatch (elaborate ceremonial feasts), canoe carving, totem poles, story telling and longhouses, traditional Haida dwellings. www.haidaheritagecentre.com
• Great River Journey: Travel 600 km (373 mi) from Whitehorse to Dawson City, YT through wild northern wilderness on this eight-day floating safari down the Yukon River. Your hosts, four Yukon First Nations — the Ta’an Kwäch’än, Kwanlin Dün, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and Selkirk — recently partnered with private investors to launch the unusual river cruise that gives visitors an intimate view of the culture, history, wildlife and geography of Canada’s north. Travel with an experienced local guide and dine on traditional foods. www.greatriverjourney.com
• Tla-ook Cultural Adventures: On the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC, paddle in a traditional Nuu-chah-nulth dugout canoe from Tofino to nearby Meares Island, then hike through the magnificent ancient rainforest that First Nations activists saved from the logging industry in the 1980s. You’ll pass through the land of the Tla-o-qui-aht people, part of the Nuu-chah-nulth language group. Nuu-chah-nulth means “people of the mountains and sea,” and this 10,000-year-old culture has been influenced by the bountiful ocean and forest of giant trees and medicinal plants. www.tlaook.com
• Cruise North: Inuit-owned Cruise North Expeditions is the Canadian leader in Arctic cruise experiences. In July 2008, the cruise line will join with the Toronto Marathon for an Arctic Marathon cruise: long-distance runners race 42 km (26.2 mi) across picturesque Douglas Harbour on Hudson Strait, traditional hunting grounds of the nomadic Inuit. Some 200,000 Inuit share a similar culture in four separate countries of the Circumpolar Region, one of which is the western Canadian Arctic. Inuit believe everything in nature is infused with the spirit of life. Their existence is one of a precarious balance of survival in harsh conditions with dramatic beauty. www.cruisenorthexpeditions.com
• U’mista Cultural Centre: At Alert Bay, BC, on tiny Cormorant Island just off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, the T’sasala Cultural Group performs colourful, traditional Kwakwaka’wakw dances in the Big House every Thursday through Saturday. The centre was “founded in 1980 as a ground-breaking project to house potlatch artifacts which had been seized by government during an earlier period of cultural repression. The return of the potlatch artifacts not only provided U’mista’s name (“the return of something important”), and sparked a general trend toward repatriation of First Nations and cultural artifacts,” according to the U’mist Cultural Society’s website. www.umista.org
• Cariboo Chilcotin Jetboat Adventures: From June to September, take a five-hour tour to explore British Columbia’s Fraser River and learn more about its significant role in the daily life of the Tsilqot’in (Chilcotin) people near Williams Lake. Sample traditional foods (wild tea, “hushum” or native ice cream), hike to an ancient First Nations village and view 8,000-year-old petroglyphs in the company of a naturalist and First Nations guide. You can also hear Chilcotin/Shushwap stories, learn about ancient pit houses and try your had at “dip netting,” a traditional way to catch wild salmon. www.jetboatadventures.com
• Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park: The Siksika call themselves Niitsitapi or “the Real People,” because they see themselves as equal partners in the universe with all other beings. Stories and legends abound. Camp overnight in a real tipi*, traditionally owned by Blackfoot women with the entrance facing east. Tipis had a broad band of dark colour painted around the base representing earth with an overlay of stars. Tour archaeological sites or catch the World Chicken Dance competition at this eco-friendly cultural centre in the Badlands of southern Alberta, on the historic site of the signing of Treaty No. 7 between the Blackfoot Nation and Queen Victoria. www.blackfootcrossing.ca
• Manito Ahbee Festival: Manito Ahbee (“where the Creator sits”) is a 10-day all-nations Aboriginal art and music festival held annually in Winnipeg, MB. Highlights of the 2008 event (Oct. 31 to Nov. 9) include a two-day Pow-Wow of dancing and dress competitions, and the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards. Performances range from country and rock to hip hop and blues. The Métis Celebrations are about Métis heritage and history, featuring the band’s unique style of fiddling and jigging, an integral part of their culture. The name, Manito Ahbee, refers to a sacred site (Bannock Point in Whiteshell Provincial Park) where First Nations traditionally gathered to share teachings and wisdom. www.manitoahbee.com
• Metepenagiag Heritage Park and Outdoor Adventure Lodge: Spend an afternoon exploring Mi’kmaq culture of Metepenagiag (Red Bank), “New Brunswick’s Oldest Village.” The Red Bank First Nation community is caretaker of two National Historic Sites: The Augustine Mound and the Oxbow. Share music and listen to stories as handed down through generations by Mi’kmaq elders, who have long greeted visitors on the banks of the Miramichi River. After a day of canoeing or fly-fishing on the nearby Miramichi, see historic Mi’kmaq ceramic pottery and archaeological finds, then tuck into gourmet Aboriginal fare at the 10-room, four-star lodge. www.metepenagiagpark.com

*also known as teepee