Banff Indian Days

retrieved from: http://images.techno-science.ca/html/letter11_02.html

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, the modern version of the event was sparked in 1894 when a flood along a section of the Canadian Pacific Railway stranded a group of wealthy tourists in Banff. A local entrepreneur, Tom Wilson, convinced a group of Nakoda peoples to put on cultural performances for the tourist group, providing monetary incentives.

The festival’s inaugural year as an annual event was 1911; however, prior to the official creation of the annual event, Indigenous groups held cultural gatherings in similar locations which many claim to have been precursors to the festival. Banff Indian Days offered a chance to raise awareness of Nakoda cultures and histories as well as concerns, and allowed local Indigenous groups to gather and celebrate common cultural practices.

While the festivals gave the Nakoda and other Indigenous groups an opportunity for representation, portrayals of participants were influenced by White event planners and often enforced colonial tokenization and exoticization of Indigenous peoples as they represented colonial notions of their cultures. Past Banff Indian Days have also homogenized the diverse groups of Indigenous peoples, as they were all represented under a single term (“Indian”) and presented as one cultural group.

retrieved from: http://www.thecragandcanyon.ca/2011/08/10the-return-of-banff-indian-days

Today, The Banff Indian Days festival offers a much-needed opportunity for Indigenous groups to gather and celebrate their cultures, spiritualities, and histories. Inspired by traditional Indigenous Sundance festivals, the festival encourages young members of Nakoda and other communities to embrace their ancestral cultures. Participants join together to honour their ancestors, share stories, and bask in the beauty of the land.

The Banff Indian Days festival has come a long way and serves to illustrate the resilience of Banff’s Indigenous communities as they have remained committed to their cultures and ways of life while adapting to the detrimental impacts of colonialism.

retrieved from: http://www.thecragandcanyon.ca/2011/08/10the-return-of-banff-indian-days

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Mason, C. W. (2014). Spirits of the Rockies: Reasserting an Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park. University of Toronto Press.

http://www.thecragandcanyon.ca/2011/08/10the-return-of-banff-indian-days

Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum

Finally placing an emphasis on the inclusion of Indigenous lives in local tourism, Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum aims to provide accurate historical portrayals of Nakoda peoples and their presence in the Banff-Bow Valley. The museum was started by Norman Luxton, an entrepreneur who came to Banff in 1902 and soon after formed positive relationships with members of the Nakoda community. By creating a tourist souvenir shop, called Sign of the Goat Curio Store, Luxton created a way for the Nakoda to be actively involved in Banff’s tourism industry. The store featured taxidermy and craft work created by Nakoda peoples and Luxton compensated them for their contributions.

 

retrieved from: https://www.banffindiantradingpost.com/photo-tour/

 

The store became a popular tourist destination and the camaraderie developed between Luxton and the Nakoda peoples was reinforced as he advocated for Indigenous rights and mediated between the Nakoda and the government. Eventually, in 1960, Luxton created the Luxton Museum of the Plains Indian, which later became the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum, to display his collection of native artifacts.

retrieved from: http://4acestaxi.ca/products/buffalo-nations-luxton-museum-banff-area-museums-attractions-sightseeing 

Today, the museum offers such attractions as interpretive tours by local Nakoda elders, dance and drum classes, puppet shows, art classes, beading workshops, and other exciting activities. The Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum continues to function in a culturally sensitive and inclusive way, portraying the history and lifestyles of Banff’s Indigenous communities through art, music, and interaction.

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Mason, C. W. (2014). Spirits of the Rockies: Reasserting an Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park. University of Toronto Press.

http://www.buffalonationsmuseum.com/

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel

Finished in 1888, the Banff Springs Hotel was created to attract affluent tourists to the Banff area. The hotel was built at the foot of Mount Rundle and was extremely luxurious during this period, catering to the needs of wealthy Europeans and Americans who could contribute to the growing tourism economy. Wealthy guests from around the world stayed in the hotel, including Marilyn Monroe. It was not until later, in the 1920s, that accommodations were created for middle class travellers.

retrieved from: http://albertaventure.com/2013/05/banff-springs-hotel-turns-125/

Like many parts of Banff’s developing tourism industry, Indigenous populations were excluded from Banff Springs Hotel. However, tourism entrepreneurs couldn’t resist exploring the Nakoda peoples through using eroticized images of the community to promote the attractive idea of naturalness within the region.

retrieved from: http://www.fairmont.com/banff-springs/

Today, the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel boasts their 764 guest rooms and host of activities including a 27-hole golf course, river rafting, horseback riding, skiing, snowshoeing, and a luxurious spa. Be sure to contemplate the exploitation and exclusion of Banff’s Indigenous populations while enjoying a relaxing mountain mint pedicure.

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Mason, C. W. (2014). Spirits of the Rockies: Reasserting an Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park. University of Toronto Press.

http://www.fairmont.com/banff-springs/

http://albertaventure.com/2013/05/banff-springs-hotel-turns-125/

Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park

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 of food and medicine as well as fostering spiritual and cultural opportunities.

The Nakoda peoples were once members of the Sioux Nation and Assiniboine groups, then split and moved west, breaking into 3 bands (Chiniki, Jacob, Bearspaw) and occupying the Banff-Bow Valley.

retrieved from: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a3/82/16/a382162f477e5b97102eb2b4a41e59ca.jpg

As Europeans arrived with the fur trade, rivalries emerged between local Indigenous groups over control of the fur markets. Then, as european-canadians supposedly tried to help the Indigenous communities through “civilizing” attempts, they instead simply asserted their own ethnocentric, colonial values upon Indigenous bodies and lives which created lasting destructive consequences. In the 1870s, missions designed to improve the lives of Indigenous communities applied assimilation techniques as they built settlements and churches in the Banff-Bow Valley. Missionaries moderated between governments and Indigenous peoples, leading to the Treaty 7 agreement, which posed a great deal of confusion for Indigenous peoples due to language barriers and cultural misalignments between the European-Canadian government and Banff’s Indigenous communities.

retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/568368415454069540/

Following Treaty 7, the reserve system was implemented, along with forced schooling for Indigenous children, and inadequate food rations. Hunting, fishing, and gathering were gradually made impossible in the process of eradicating Indigenous ways of life.

In spite of the damaging consequences of colonialism in the Banff-Bow Valley,  the Nakoda began to reassert their presence in the valley thru involvement in local tourism economies and Banff Indian Days sporting festivals in the 20th century.

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Mason, C. W. (2014). Spirits of the Rockies: Reasserting an Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park. University of Toronto Press.

More on the Creation of Banff National Park

Previously named Rocky Mountain Park, Banff National Park’s creation began in an effort to protect the area surrounding naturally occurring hot springs in the Banff-Bow Valley from private ownership. Among these were the Cave and Basin mineral hot springs (which you can read more about in the ‘Sites’ section). In 1885, the federal government formed a 26 square kilometre reserve around the Cave and Basin hot springs which was expanded in 1887 to 673 square kilometres to form Rocky Mountain Park, Canada’s first national park which later changed to Banff National Park.

retrieved from: www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/biography/images/harkin-chro-parkb.jpg

Despite the rights of Indigenous peoples outlined in Treaty 7, Nakoda communities who had a long history of living in the Banff-Bow Valley were alienated with the creation of the park, as their hunting, fishing, and gathering practices did not align with park regulations. However, while the Nakoda peoples were excluded from the park, tourism entrepreneurs exploited their images in promoting the park. Nakoda peoples used what little access they had to the park to build political relationships with the broader Canadian society and gain financial resources; thus beginning their involvement in the tourism industry on Banff National Park.

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Mason, C. W. (2014). Spirits of the Rockies: Reasserting an Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park. University of Toronto Press.

Cave & Basin National Historic Site

retrieved from: http://editingluke.net/2014/07/cace-basin-national-historic-site-part-1.html

Generally regarded as the birthplace of Canada’s National Park system, the Cave and Basin National Historic Site marks one of a series of naturally occurring hot springs which held significant meanings for local Indigenous peoples for many centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Located near the Banff townsite, this particular hot springs is just one of many in the surrounding area that represented a place of healing, medicine, and cultural celebration for the Nakoda communities. Nakoda peoples believed there was a Great Spirit who lived in the waters of the hot springs and that bathing in the water could heal them. The lands surrounding the hot springs provided herbal medicines for the Nakoda to gather. Sacred events were held at the springs, including marriage and initiation ceremonies (which marked the achievement of adulthood by young men and women). The springs were also used as an important meeting location.

retrieved from: http://www.jordoncooper.com/2015/08/the-cave-and-basin-national-historic-site-of-canada-in-banff-national-park/

However, the ‘discovery’ of the hot springs by non-Indigenous tourist personnel marred the cultural significance of the hot springs for Nakoda peoples. the spiritual healing power of the springs is gone, and the development of the springs into tourist destinations removed the Nakoda peoples ability to gather medicinal plants and use the areas as meeting and celebration sites (Mason, 2014, p. 50-52).

In addition to the mineral springs and emerald coloured basin, the site now features interactive exhibits which detail the formation of Canada’s national parks from a European-Canadian perspective. In traditional colonial fashion, tourists learn of the ‘discovery’ of the hot springs by three European railway workers in 1883. A gift shop, café, picnic tables, and 7 kms of walking trails, along with an after-hours lantern tour really creates a truly colonial experience of what was once a sacred cultural site.

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Mason, C. W. (2014). Spirits of the Rockies: Reasserting an Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park. University of Toronto Press.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ab/caveandbasin/activ/visite-tour.aspx