Tours with Indigenous Guides
Exploring Canada, it’s important to remember that each place we visit, from coast to coast to coast, is the ancestral territory of the Inuit, Métis, and First Nations Peoples that call this land home. Deepen your understanding of local Indigenous communities by exploring with an Indigenous guide. Learn the stories of the land and its people; walk in ancient footsteps; discover modern flourishing Indigenous communities and experience their cultures first-hand.
Push your boundaries on a transformational trip to the mountainous terrain around Nordegg and Banff National Park, Alberta with the principal owner of Girth Hitch Guiding, and proud Métis man, Tim Taylor. Beginner climbers and experts alike can join Tim to share his passion for the mountains he calls home and learn the deeper cultural significance of seeing mountains not as something to be conquered but instead as ancient friends to discover and experience. Feel spiritually nourished and challenged to be your best self on a personalized immersive adventure.
Journey to the boreal forest in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains to join Brenda Holder, owner-operator of Mahikan Trails, on a journey exploring the woods through an Indigenous perspective. Following in the footsteps of her family lineage as a Cree/Iroquois Metis guide from the Kwarakwante lineage of Jasper, Brenda has a passion for sharing her culture. Feel the forest come alive as you learn the traditional use of medicinal plants, trees and flowers, and find a deeper connection through understanding the significance of the land and its animals. Leave with the gift of Traditional Knowledge.
Walk with interpretive Knowledge Keepers on the Elsipogtog Heritage Path, New Brunswick. Begin your journey with a traditional greeting, then enter the community-raised teepee for a smudging ceremony with teachings that connect past ways to present life. Along the Heritage Path hear how Mother Nature’s gifts are honoured to benefit the community. Book a hands-on basket-making session with a master crafter and learn how to make a traditional basket with dyed ash and sweetgrass decoration from material harvest to completion. Leave enriched with a deeper understanding and connection to Elsipogtog Mi’kmaq culture.
Touch, smell, see, hear, and feel Indigenous culture both ancient and modern on the land and waters of the Shuswap and Okanagan territories with Moccasin Trails. Experience Secwepemcuu’l’ecw culture on a guided adventure with a local Knowledge Keeper paddling the South Thompson and Adams Rivers in Kamloops along traditional river routes. Take a spiritual journey on Syilx Nation territory learning about native plants, talking with a local Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, visiting the Sncewips Heritage Museum, and feasting on bannock at the Kekuli Café before visiting the Indigenous World Winery. Truly experience diverse Indigenous cultures first-hand.
Explore Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, with the Perry family at Under the Stump, who call it their backyard, and gain an insight into Mi’Kmaq culture along the way. See how Newfoundland traditions blend with Mi’Kmaq culture on a Face ‘n’ Eyes tour— a Kitchen Party in the woods with storytelling, music and snacks. Learn the stories of Rita Rideout from hardship and resettlement to mussel picking in the ocean in Bakers Brook. Enjoy a gourmet picnic with Newfoundland musical favourites, play along and become an instant expert on the Newfoundland ugly stick or spoons!
Hear the heartbeat of Mother Earth with the Warrior Women who share their Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation culture through performance, workshops, and guided experiences in beautiful Jasper National Park. Gather by the firepit for an engaging conversation about Indigenous culture, learn songs and phrases in Cree, and hear legends, stories of the land, and drumming that touches your soul. Join an immersive, hands-on medicine walk and see the natural world around you through Indigenous eyes, learn to make salves, soaps and lotions and leave with new knowledge and products you made yourself.
Bring nature into your daily life after an inspirational half-day tour with Joe Urie, co-owner of the Jasper Tour Company on his traditional homeland in the shadow of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Join a small group of fellow adventurers and connect with each other and the natural world around you. Encounter animals such as deer, moose, black bears, wolves, marmots, pikas, eagles, grizzlies, and elk and hear stories of the region’s First Peoples from Urie, who comes from a long line of proud Métis who lived and guided along the Athabasca River. Immerse in 30 centuries of Mi’kmaq culture at the Metepenagiag Interpretative Centre; learn about its two National Historic Sites, and the stories and traditions of the people who have always called this place home. Get a taste of “Ookdotaan” walking in the footsteps of their Ancestors, hearing stories handed down through generations, and gather fresh ingredients for tea, before sampling seasonal fish or summer game with wild rice. Make a night of it and reconnect with nature, sleep soundly in a traditional tipi with storytelling around the campfir
