Page 33 - 2026-2027 Travel Guide to Canada

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demonstrations and hunting and fishing
expeditions (www.moosecree.com).
EAST
The largest freshwater island in the world,
Manitoulin Island in Ontario, is home to six
Anishinaabe First Nations that provide a rich
cultural backdrop for tourists. One of these,
the Wiikwemkoong, hosts the Annual
Cultural Festival comprising one of North
America’s longest-running powwows with
colourful dance competitions, Indigenous
cuisine and handmade arts and crafts. On
their Unceded Journey tour, learn about
historical treaties and awe-inspiring
legends, including Zhibzhii, the underwater
spirit (www.wiikwemkoong.ca).
In Ottawa, Ontario, the Summer Solstice
Indigenous Festival is an interactive arts
festival that attracts 60,000 annually.
Highlights include First Nations, Métis and
Inuit artists, Pow Wow competitions,
culinary events and lots of family fun
(www.summersolsticefestivals.ca).
Within the vast province of Québec, there
are more than 200 uniquely enriching
opportunities to experience the protective
values of the Indigenous cultures and
heritage, intertwining art, culture, gastro-
nomy, nature and adventure. Discover the
variety of customs and history transmitted by
Elders from generation to generation, sharing
a rich culture of authentic, ancestral and
contemporary traditions (www.discover
indigenousquebec.com).
ATLANTIC CANADA
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Torngat
Mountains Inuit-led Base Camp & Research
Station offers wildlife viewing reputedly
MOCCASIN TRAILS, KAMLOOPS BC • INDIGENOUS TOURISM CANADA
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
embarking along the Pow Wow 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
KLUSKAP RIDGE RV & CAMPGROUND, ENGLISHTOWN, NOVA SCOTIA • INDIGENOUS TOURISM CANADA
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).
NORTH
To explore Canada’s Arctic waters in comfort,
book a 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.
Canada’s Indigenous People 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 experi-
ences, they send positive vibes to the world.
And that is good medicine for the soul
(www.theoriginaloriginal.ca).