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Indigenous tourism background
Indigenous tourism background
I would like to thank the Nankai University College of Tourism and Service Management. And my friend and colleague Professor Rouran Zhang who invited me here to present on the subject matter sustainable indigenous tourism issues at Canadian world heritage sites
So “Meegwetch” which is a traditional language of indigenous peoples where I live all the nation and nationally to say welcome, “huan ying” and welcome. Thank you for having me again. Our terms of the presentation today
we will be divided into the following five sections: indigenous tourism background world heritage and indigenous peoples tourism issues at Canadian indigenous world heritage sites
Case study: Pimachiowin Aki and finally,the conclusions that come from this presentation. Now it turns to the background. Much of what we know in Western Canada and in North America about indigenous tourism has been basically about shows such as this one of the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West on other shows the basically detail the western experience or interpretation of indigenous cultural heritage Much it was tricks with horses, ropes, some shoot ups and all sorts of other things that basically presented wild rivalries, savage, barbarous, and civilized races all come together. In Europe, there’s a very famous fellow called Karl May who was in the nineteenth century.
And he wrote books about a subject called Winnertou and talked about basically indigenous heritage and culture at that time and of that era. And his books became so popular. But now there are over five hundred Indian clubs in Germany where every year they dress up in various clothes have Indian villages at various sorts of Indian attractions to basically celebrate indigenous culture in North America Interesting thing about all this is the fact that he wrote up about, I think about sixty books he never visited North America he never visited North America So this is his interpretation of the culture that he heard from others and the stories they heard from others as well.
In terms of the nineteenth century, indigenous peoples were represented in different ways. We have a Indian cigar store here. This is where cigarettes for purchase, cigars were purchased for some reason or other. I always felt it necessary with that indigenous connection of tobacco table in there. There are all kinds of western movies called Cowboys and Indians Settlement of the West. And there are also TV shows like the lone ranger which are again very popular in terms of presenting a very westernized interpretation of indigenous culture.
Later in the sixties and seventies there is a greater openness in terms of indigenous issues, and the aspects of people are leading with regard to the loss of culture, language, environment, and other sorts of activities. There was a famous example here of environmental movie of the United States. That was symbolized by the commercials on the left that showed indigenous people watching the land being polluted and the water being polluted as well. Other movies like Dance with Wolves, A Little Big Man that tried to tell the history of the settlement of the west and of North America from an indigenous perspective.
So now from that end, where people have a greater sensitivity and awareness to indigenous cultures and issues there has been a development what has now been referred to as indigenous or aboriginal tourism. Specifically, we see it as two things from a destination Canada standpoint whereas majority of operator controlled by indigenous peoples, I can demonstrate a connection responsibility to the local indigenous community and traditional territory where the operation resides. So it’s very much based on that land where the tourism activity occurs and their traditional activities as a result that occur with that. And it also ensures a significant portion of the experience incorporates indigenous culture, a manner that is appropriate, respectful and true.
Authenticity is ensured through the active involvement of indigenous people, the development and delivery of experience. So it is aboriginal culture as told, by interpreted and presented by indigenous peoples. So very much not just their connection to the land, their connection to culture but pull their perspective and through their eyes as well. There are different sorts of aboriginal cultural activities that are out there around the world, not just in Canada. You have examples of the long house in Sarawak, we see the traditional activities that go on there.
the different fabrics that you you can experience and all parts of the world But this is improve the income people there There you have the famous New Zealand Hawker that’s used for celebrations, sporting activities and other forms of commemoration. And many of you might recognize this famous lady who is in front of the Honolulu. And many of you might recognize this famous lady who is in front of the Honolulu. And she gave much prominence to indigenous peoples with the tour of Australia in early 2000. So again, different sorts of perspectives, different cultures, different activities. In Canada, we have a number of activities and ways of commemorating indigenous culture.
This is the Calgary Stampede, which is a celebration of western culture every summer, and indigenous people are from very prominently with their culture and their traditions and there are the various scarfs that . This is in downtown Calgary where the celebration occurs. There’s also elements here related to cultural centers which is a cultural center and Western British Columbia at a place called Whistler. It’s very well known as an international adventure tourism destination as well. And there are also activities referred to as Pow Wows, and Pow Wows are basically gatherings around North America.
There’s actually a power circuit, where they have various tribes, celebrate the different cultures, history, and the nature of the place where they live, and pulled in a manner that expresses different aspects of their crafts, horsemanship or other activities that are representative of their individual tribes.
Now, in terms of the Canadian indigenous tourism market there are over fifteen hundred aboriginal indigenous tourism experiences across Canada. One third of the aboriginal tourism business are located in Ontario, which is the biggest, most populated province in Canada, followed by British Columbia and Quebec to make up most of the indigenous tourism activities. The top three tourism sectors are outdoor adventure, whether it’s horseback riding, traveling around with indigenous peoples to on a buffal hunt or other social activities, retail which includes art galleries, gift shops and gas stations where you can purchase an experienced native crafts and how to make them and how they’re used, and also accommodations.
So this can be from anything from hotel to actually being in a TV, which is the traditional indigenous where you can experience a night being in that indigenous environment. There are over thirty thousand workers who were involved with its industry. And within this industry that has a representation of one point four billion dollars with regard to Canada’s gross domestic product. So again, there’s also a labeling that goes on to try and encourage more authentic indigenous tourism experiences. And there’s a lot of marketing that goes on from a national, an NGO business and other entities. And these are some of the stakeholders who are involved.
Parks Canada, which is responsible course of our national parks and historic sites; UNESCO, which deals with world heritage sites, something that we have to call the truth, and reconciliation commission, which is an entity that was developed to address, some of the concerns that came from the residential schools that indigenous peoples were thrust into in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This is a way of trying to redress that through more support and cultural activities. There’s international year stimulate arisen for development were supported and just people’s tourism in a sensitive, thoughtful manner that based on cultural traditions. You have hotels, like this one here, that are indigenous only given indigenous experience.
You have the industry Canada’s version where indigenous tourism is one of the three components of it . as from letting Canada’s tourism for the next five years Destination Canada, the marketing body for tourism in Canada, and the sustainable development goals which are important towards framing, how tourism can be developed in a sustainable manner. And finally, in the center, there’s an umbrella organization called the indigenous tourism association of Canada that try to bring all these different stakeholders together to support community economic development in the various indigenous fans across Canada. There are also international responsibilities that we are required to address in Canada when it comes to developing indigenous tourism and also supporting indigenous peoples.
One of the key documents is the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was enacted in 1948 This is followed up about sixty years later with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007 known as an UNDRIP and finally an FPIC which is the Free Prior and Informed Consent with indigenous groups and with the election of our government in twenty sixteen are indigenous affairs department is now required to use the framework of FPIC as a way of working with indigenous groups, when it comes to community social and economic development.
So these are some of the factors that affect the way that we work with indigenous groups, and the way that we’re supposed to frame for example, the way we develop tourism in this instance
Last week we have learned about the meaningful and valuable landscape and a systematic method to assess landscape. In this week, Mr. Fergus T. Maclaren, who is the president of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Cultural Tourism, will talk about sustainable indigenous tourism by illustrating issues at Canadian World Heritage Sites.
You will learn the following five sections: indigenous tourism background, World Heritage and indigenous peoples, tourism issues at Canadian indigenous World Heritage Sites, Case study of Pimachiowin Aki and conclusions.
In the first video of this week, you will learn the definition of indigenous tourism, the background of indigenous tourism and different sorts of aboriginal cultural activities.
In this video, the educator analyses a lot of films about aboriginal culture and aboriginal people.
If you have seen relevant films, please share your experience in the discussion area.
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International Culture and Tourism Management: Cultural Heritage and Tourism Management
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International Culture and Tourism Management: Cultural Heritage and Tourism Management
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