Page 24 - 2025-2026 Travel Guide to Canada

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KLAHOOSE WILDERNESS RESORT, DESOLATION
SOUND • DESTINATION CANADA
Just outside Québec City, enjoy Indigenous
culture from the authentic four-star Hôtel-
Musée Premières Nations, complete with
indoor pool, fitness centre and dining
terrace overlooking the Akiawenrahk
(St. Charles River). Have a sleepover in a
longhouse, a symbol of family and the
legendary hospitality of Indigenous
Peoples. There are 24 rooms and suites and
the Indigenous-terroir themed restaurant
called La Traite, which is helmed by
Michelin starred chef, Marc de Passorio
(www.tourismewendake.ca).
MARITIMES
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Torngat
Mountains Inuit-led Base Camp & Research
Station offers wildlife viewing reputedly
unlike anything in the world. This includes
adventurous treks such as Wolf and Caribou
Adventures (www.thetorngats.com). For
tamer pursuits, on Prince Edward Island’s
Lennox Island, take home more than
memories: make a traditional Mi’kmaq hand
drum, create a birchbark art piece with
porcupine quills or prepare Bannock cooked
in the sand while listening to stories of
traditional life on Lennox Island
(www.lennoxisland.com).
New Brunswick invites guests to partici-
pate in Indigenous festivals and learn more
about the province’s First Nations by
partying along the powwow trail all summer.
Discover traditional artefacts and practices
at Metepenagiag Heritage Park, which
houses a prehistoric Mi’kmaq village with
displays of archaeological findings that
provide glimpses into ancient times. The
Augustine Mound, a cemetery dating back
beyond 600 BC, adds to the mystery and
history (www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/
indigenous).
Across the bay in Nova Scotia, Elders share
stories about creation at the Wagmatcook
Culture and Heritage Centre (www.wagmat
cook.com). And in Membertou, just outside
Sydney, the Mi’kmaq Medicine Walk is an
educational stroll through the medicinal
practices used by their ancestors. It includes
a dream catcher workshop and the breaking
of traditional luskinikn bread (www.member
toutcc.com).
Less than two hours from Halifax, connect
further with the Mi’kmaq by joining a guided
cultural program at Kejimkujik National
Park. This starts with viewing some of the
500 petroglyphs they created centuries ago.
Then witness the ancient craft of birchbark
canoe-building in person with Todd
Labrador and a Parks Canada Interpreter at
work (www.parkscanada.gc.ca/kejimkujik).
NORTH
The Eeyou Istchee Baie-James region, 800
km (497 mi.) north of Montréal, is one of
Canada’s best travel adventures. Traditional
Cree experiences, snowshoeing and hiking,
museums, coastal tours and cultural
festivals await (www.escapelikenever
before.com).
Increase the excitement in Kuujjuaq or
Puvirnituq, two Inuit communities in
Nunavik, in Québec’s far north. There you
can enjoy a dog sledding adventure across
the sea ice, get a hands-on course with an
Inuk master igloo-builder, and even sleep
under the northern lights in the igloo that
you built (www.inuitadventures.com or
www.ungavapolarecotours.com).
To explore Canada’s Arctic waters in
comfort, book passage aboard an Adventure
Canada cruise ship. Photograph polar bears
and the aurora borealis from the deck, go
ashore at Mittimatalik for an Inuit welcome
and visit the Franklin graves on Beechey
Island (www.adventurecanada.com).
In late June, Yukon’s Kwanlin Dün Cultural
Centre hosts the popular annual Adäka
Cultural Festival, which showcases the arts
and customs of Yukon First Nations and
Indigenous artists (www.adakafestival.ca).
The Northwest Territories boasts some of
the world’s best viewing of the other-worldly
aurora borealis. Watch the show from B.Dene
Adventures’ cosy cabin on the shores of
Great Slave Lake, or at Aurora Village in
Yellowknife from the comfort of a teepee.
Nunavut offers unusual wildlife and
Arctic experiences. Trekkers wanting to live
the life can go winter camping like Inuit
families, hunt exotic big game or simply put
their feet up at one of the area’s lovely
wilderness lodges.
For their valued visitors, Canada’s hospi-
table Indigenous Peoples have created spirited
and spiritual journeys through their history
and culture, carrying on the traditions of
millennia. By educating guests with original
stories and homegrown experiences, they
send positive vibes to the world. And that is
good medicine for the soul.
HÔTEL-MUSÉE PREMIÈRES NATIONS, WENDAKE, QUÉBEC • DESTINATION CANADA