b'TOURISMthat in my life, reconnecting to those food systems makes it possible for me to live in the North. Without embracing SHARING TRADITIONS those traditional food systems, it would be too expensive to live here.RIGHT APPROACHSEVEN BUSINESSES THAT IMPART INDIGENOUSOne of the biggest challenges to growing CULINARY AND FORAGING KNOWLEDGE this type of enterprise, Henry notes, is helping potential visitors discover expe-riences that are actually connected to and financially beneficial to Indigenous ANISHINAABE WILD RICE EXPERIENCE communities. Visitors dont know what This family business preserves and shares a traditional Ojibwaythey dont know, and sometimes theyre practice by introducing visitors to the process of harvesting wildafraid to ask. Rather than risk doing the rice from Whitefish Lake, about 70 kilometres southwest of Thunderwrong thing, theyll do nothing, he says.Bay, Ontario. The process begins with collecting the rice by canoe. wildriceexperience.com To that end, ITAC has spearheaded an accreditation program called The CANADIAN BUSHCRAFT Original Original. It acts as a mark of An Indigenous-owned school in central Ontario whose courses coverexcellence that can be displayed by a wide range of skills, including campfire management, outdoorbusinesses offering tourism products cooking, maple harvesting, deer hunting and traditional foods of theand services that are truly authentic to Anishinaabeg such as acorns, walleye and beaver. demonstrate the quality of their brand.canadianbushcraft.caIn addition, some communities are HAIDA HOUSE AT TLALL divided between the wish to build This outstanding guest house provides a gateway into all aspects ofeconomic development through tourism Haida culture, including the unique cuisine of Chef Kil Tlaasgaa, whoand the desire to respect and safeguard uses traditional techniques to prepare locally sourced ingredientstraditional knowledge and resources. like rock scallops, spot prawns and seaweed. There are people who are concerned haidatourism.ca/haida-house that we can only share so much. Not all communities want to share all their MAHIKAN TRAILS INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCES creation stories and their relation to In Clearwater County, Alberta, visitors can engage in walks high- place, Henry says, noting that its also lighting medicines used by Cree peoples of the Boreal Forest andabout the sustainability of resources.the Cascade Ponds of Banff National Park, courses in wilderness first aid, and workshops in traditional medicine or soapmaking. For instance, on Haida Gwaii, says Henry, mahikan.ca sport fishing has been there for decades, but the communities have seen a very PEI PEI CHEI OW significant decline in their ability to get Based in Amiskwacwskahikan Treaty 6 (Edmonton), this food andfood fish. Indigenous communities have education company offers takeout and catering as well as coursesaddressed the issue in recent years by based on Swampy Cree cuisine, such as bannock, meenishapiy (abuying sport fishing lodges and in some fermented berry drink) and duck. cases closing them. peipeicheiow.comThats really important, because it sends SHAKUT TUN WILDERNESS CAMP a signal to Canada that yes, we need At this site in Kluane, Yukon, in the traditional territory of the Cham- tourism, but we need it to be done in a pagne and Ashihik First Nations, visitors can learn about fishing andsustainable way so that it doesnt deplete ice fishing, or follow medicine walks. local resources, explains Henry. At ITAC, shakuttunadventures.com were very conscious of that. We try to work with every community within the WANUSKEWIN country to find out what theyre comfort-At this traditional sacred site and gathering place near Saskatoon,able with. I would say right now, we see visitors learn about and experience the cultures of the Northernmore and more communities really Plains Indigenous peoples through experiences like bannockappreciating Indigenous tourism.baking, a whkhtowin (kinship) walk focusing on bison, and the Han Wi Moon Dinner, which is a celebration of the Northern Plains.Kisoun Taylor believes that anything wanuskewin.com done with respect and sustainability is good. We live in a wage economy now,wherepeopleneedtomake 40A CCAB PUBLICATIONFall 2023'