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Welcome to The Woke Traveller!

Inspired by Courtney Wade Mason’s Spirit of the Rockies: Reasserting and Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park, the site was designed with a desire to provide a truthful, culturally sensitive account of the tourism opportunities within Canada’s oldest national park. The blog posts were created to educate travellers on what the park has to offer, with respect for the history and culture of Banff’s Indigenous communities, particularly the Nakoda peoples. Created through a critical lens, the guide serves to bring awareness to the tourist sites which serve to reassert and perpetuate pre-colonial perceptions of Indigenous peoples and to tokenize and exoticize their lifestyles and cultural practices. The guide is intended not to devalue the beauty of Canadian landscapes or the importance of preserving nature, but to urge travellers to consider the violent colonial history of the park and to be allies to the area’s Indigenous communities along their journeys.

Recent Posts

Banff Indian Days

by rockiesexplorationguide

The Banff Indian Days represent the greatest instances of Nakoda people’s participation in Banff’s tourism industry. The annual festival is a celebration of Indigenous culture and history and has included a host of events such as parades, music and dance performances, horse races, calf-roping, tipi pitching, pie eating, tug-of-war, and archery. According to many narratives, … Continue reading Banff Indian Days

Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park

by rockiesexplorationguide

Historically, the Banff-Bow Valley has been a place of importance for numerous Indigenous communities. Most significantly, the Nakoda peoples have made a home in the mountains and surrounding areas for centuries and have reserve lands there today. The Valley has provided a way of life for Nakoda communities for several hundreds of years, supplying sources … Continue reading Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park

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