indigenous encounters
We offer trips and retreats for First Nation people from Canada and the USA and arrange personalized encounters between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. We seek to build bridges between the first inhabitants of this land, its newer dwellers and visitors from abroad.
What has become of nomadic horsemen now that buffaloes, the basis of their livelihood and culture, no longer roam the Prairie? How do the long house coastal people live nowadays, how do they combine their traditions and modern life?
Indigenous people, as well as the Inuit in the north and the Métis descendents of Native women and early European settlers, have undergone profound upheavals over the past centuries and yet they have survived and made tremendous efforts to save as much as they could of the teachings of their ancestors. From Blackfoot tipis to Haida totems, from tradition to modernity, from the Reserves to the cities, cultures, personal identities and lives are complex, fluid, ever evolving and fascinating.
Together with our First Nations partners, friends and advisors, we give visitors opportunities to explore this intriguing diversity through genuine face to face encounters. The wealth of experiences offered is reflected in the variety of options available: from sleeping in a tipi or in an up-market Native lodge to finding out how traditions and modern life mingle on the Reserves, canoeing, forest walking and discovering nature through Native eyes, learning survival techniques in the wilderness, undergoing a spiritual experience with an Elder, partaking in a pipe or a healing lodge ceremony, being a guest at an authentic Pow-Wow, craft-making, visiting an ancient sundial hidden in the Prairie or a sophisticated Interpretive Center.
The profound humanity, the sense of humor, the warmth and hospitality will stay with you forever. And it is not unusual that a simple cultural trip turns into a deeper journey of personal exploration.
