IAN WILLMS

Indigenous Tourism (For GEO France, 2018)

Indigenous-owned tourism companies such as Sea Wolf Tours in Port Alberni BC are serving as a means for Indigenous Peoples to maintain economic autonomy while exercising their cultural traditions. In the post-Residential Schooling era, Indigenous Peoples across Canada are working to reconnect with their cultural identities and repair some of the wounds that have been inflicted upon their communities. Tourism, hunting, fishing, art making and fur trading are a way for Indigenous Peoples to experience and share their culture while also protecting the sovereignty of their territories form industrial developments. Since most of British Columbia is unceded Indigenous territory, traditional economies will play an important role in any future land treaty negotiations with the Government of Canada. 

Vancouver Island
Mike Willie during a traditional baby naming ceremony in Campbell River
Elders gather during a traditional baby naming ceremony in Campbell River.
Port McNeill
Alert Bay Ecological Park
Thomas Moon of the Dzawada̱ʼenux̱w First Nation outside his smokehouse in Ukwanalis Village (Kingcome BC).
A Residential School display at the U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay
Sockeye salmon canning by members of the Namgis First Nation in Alert Bay
Petroglyphs in Kingcome Inlet
Seine Boat Inn, Alert Bay
Andrea Cramner teaches Culture Class to her grade 5-6 students at Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw School, on the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nation reserve in Port Hardy. The students, aged 10-11 years, have 90 minutes of Culture Class each week, which includes tradition
Gene Davidson and Avis O'Brien proudly display their daughter K'yuusda during her Hilugwila (traditional naming ceremony), which is part of their ancestral Kwakwaka'wakw culture. The event took place in Campbell River, which is part of the Liqwildawx terr
Salmon is cooked as part of preparation for a traditional potlatch ceremony in Tsatsisnukwomi, on Harbledown Island, which is the central village of the Da’naxda’xw people. The potlatch ceremony was held in honour of the late hereditary Da’naxda’xw chief
Calvin Hunt carves a totem at his studio in Fort Rupert BC. Hunt is a master carver with ancestry from both the Kwagiulth and Nuu-chah-nulth Nations.
The totem pole Thunderbird, Sisiyutl located at the Original  Namgis Burial Grounds in Alert Bay. It is a memorial for Great Grandparents John and Mary Whonnock and was carved by Don Svanvik, Bert Svanvik, Sean Whonnock and Johnathan Henderson in 2004.
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