Shaking the Feathers: Canada's Aboriginal Cultural Tourism in the 21St Century

Shaking the Feathers: Canada's Aboriginal Cultural Tourism in the 21st Century. Does native tourism strengthen communities and inform non-native people, or does it reinforce negative stereotypes? An examination of Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario and Xa:ytem Longhouse Interpretive Centre in Mission, B.C. By Maureen Littlejohn Submitted in partial fulfillment of Degree of Masters of Journalism Carleton University Ottawa, Ont. © Maureen Littlejohn 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47530-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47530-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada Abstract Aboriginal cultural tourism in Canada has had the potential to help preserve tradition, strengthen identity, create economic opportunities and introduce non-native people to native culture, both historic and contemporary. Alternately, it might have reinforced stereotypes and pushed indigenous people to fabricate experiences to meet tourists' expectations. Media stories and travelogues from the 19th century have helped perpetuate negative stereotypes. Some recent articles might have done the same thing. In contrast, other modern stories might have fostered a better understanding of the aboriginal experience. The limited assumptions of non-native tourists could be shifted by stories, as well as visits to sites. When aboriginal cultural tourism has been controlled from within, the attractions could have potentially corrected historical inaccuracies for visitors and aided communities. My research included Woodland Cultural Centre, established in Brantford, Ont., in 1972 on Six Nations land and Xa:ytem Longhouse Interpretive Centre, opened in 1992 outside Mission, B.C. I also briefly examined NK'MIP Desert Cultural Centre, in the Okanagan, B.C., and Great Spirit Circle Trail in the Manitoulin region of Ontario. The question was if aboriginal cultural tourism's strengths outweighed its weaknesses. If so, aboriginal cultural tourism could benefit not only aboriginal communities, but also all of Canada. li CONTENTS Preface v Introduction x Chapter 1 Aboriginal Tourism in Canada Overview 1 Definition of terms 1 Ideas of identity and tradition 4 Back in the day 6 From Indian Act to partnerships 9 Government financial support 16 NK'MIP Desert Cultural Centre and Great Spirit Circle Trail 18 Conclusion 29 Chapter 2 Media Coverage of Aboriginal Tourism 31 The evolution of stereotypes 32 Native stereotypes 33 Relevancy 35 Knowledge, assumptions and reporting 36 Popular media stories and frame analysis 37 Case studies: The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Maclean's, Canadian Geographic 40 Avoiding fast but fallible conventions 57 Conclusion 57 Chapter 3 Woodland Cultural Centre 60 Background 61 Six Nations Tourism 62 History of the site 63 The program that launched the centre 63 Vision, mission, mandate and goals 66 Finances 70 Museum 73 Art gallery 79 Gift shop 81 Workshops 82 Educational tours 82 Public school programs 85 Special land claims programs 85 Events 86 Six Nations Tourism and Woodland Cultural Centre 87 Future 87 Conclusion 88 in Chapter 4 Xa:ytem Longhouse Interpretive Centre 90 Background 90 Pithouse 92 History of the site 94 Finding, protecting and sharing the scared 95 Story of the transformer stone 96 Ownership of the site 97 Visitors 98 Vision, mission, mandate and goals 100 Tourist Expectations 102 Finances 103 Partnerships 105 Job Opportunities 105 Longhouse visitors'centre 106 Artisans' centre 108 Gift gallery 109 Educational programs 110 Identity 110 Community teaching 112 Events 113 Sto:lo Tourism Commission 115 Future 117 Conclusion 117 Chapter 5 Aboriginal Tourism Ventures: Compared, Contrasted and Media's Role 120 NK' MIP Desert Cultural Center and Great Spirit Circle Trail 120 Aboriginal tourism and the media 122 Woodland and Xa:ytem: How they compared 124 Tradition 125 Identity 126 Economic opportunity 127 Informing non-native tourists 128 Woodland and Xa:ytem: Strengths, weaknesses and opportunities 131 Conclusion 133 Appendices Appendix I - Aboriginal Tourism Media Stories, A-F 135 Appendix II - Six Nations Tourism 164 Appendix III - Sto.lo Tourism Commission 170 Works Cited 174 Additional Sources 184 IV Preface Why aboriginal tourism initiatives? I am not native, although my last name is one that is familiar in the native community. My background is Anglo Saxon, rooted in the United Kingdom through my grandparents. I came across aboriginal culture almost accidentally. More than 20 years ago, I wrote for and edited a magazine called The Music Scene. It was an in-house publication of the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. The organization collected license fees and paid royalties to songwriters and composers. An aboriginal lawyer vetted one article I wrote for the magazine about the aboriginal music scene. He pointed out the history of cultural appropriation and made me realize language could be loaded with assumptions and stereotypes. The incident hit home because the lawyer demanded many, many changes. That experience made me realize I had an unconscious, but deeply ingrained colonialist perspective. I perpetuated a superior attitude through my language and was not even aware I was doing so. In the ensuing years I spent as a music critic and entertainment journalist, the subject surfaced again. I touched on it during interviews with the members of Innu group Kashtin, Inuit songwriter and performer Susan Aglukark, and Robbie Robertson, who is part Mohawk. The stories I did on them, as well as actors Adam Beach, who is Saulteaux, Gary Farmer, from Six Nations, and Tom Jackson, who is part Cree, were about inspiration, the creative process and their careers. When I asked about their childhoods, the reserve, or in Adam's case, how it felt to cut off his long hair, I was not really v conscious of my perspective as a reporter with a United Kingdom heritage. In the past five years, I worked as a freelance writer for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian magazine. The assignments made me start to question my own cultural awareness. Millie Knapp, the editor of the magazine, first approached me through an Internet referral service for freelance writers. Based on my last name, she thought I was native. When we spoke over the phone and she found out I was not, she hired me anyway. My first assignment was a 10-page piece about tribal colleges in the United States. It was a tough learning curve. I sloughed through reams of material about the genesis of the college system, mapped out where tribes lived, spoke with native college presidents, teachers, students and funding organizations over the phone. I had no idea before how many tribes there were in North America. My interest in indigenous tourism awakened with an assignment to write about Bathurst Inlet Lodge in Nunavut. The lodge was co-owned by the local Kingaunmiut people and a retired Mountie and his family. I met the main families of the area and learned about their clothes, food and traditions, such as hunting caribou. A guide told me how he learned to build an icehouse, something not done often anymore. The 800 words I was allotted for the story was inadequate for anything but a superficial scan of the experience. That story led to other assignments covering indigenous tourism ventures in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua and Ecuador. The magazine's criterion was that a tourist destination must involve indigenous ownership, or co-ownership, and vi have a cultural component that visitors could experience. Activities included guided tours, social gatherings in homes and cultural demonstrations. I also reported on native foods, indigenous artists and hand-made crafts. Coast Salish tour operators on Vancouver Island, potters from the Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico and a Hopi beadwork master who operated a children's art program in a Phoenix hotel featured in my stories. A native art market assignment led me to a prize-winning Northern Arapaho ledger book artist as well as a Mohawk quilter from Kahnawake in southern Ontario who told the story of her ancestors' steel-working through her stitches. In Mexico's Copper Canyon, a Raramuri long-distance runner told me about racing up mountains in open rubber sandals.

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