Powwow Country: Churchill Wild, Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill Wild, Churchill, Manitoba

Those looking for a unique northern tourism excursion might want to check out Manitoba’s Churchill Wild. The company offers some rather adventurous experiences. Guide Albert (Butch) Saunders at the Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge in York Landing takes visitors on both polar bear sightseeing tours and goose hunting tours. Saunders, who is Cree, was born on the York Factory First Nation.

All residents from there were relocated to York Landing in the late 1950s. Saunders has been a polar bear tour guide since the ’70s. “We can get them 200-300 feet away,” Saunders said of those who go on the polar bear tours, which traditionally run from late August through to the end of September. Saunders has guided visitors from all over the world. “They ask me a lot of questions,” he said. “There’s a lot of interest in my culture. And a lot of people have recorders and I tell them what used to happen around here.”

More information on Churchill Wild is available at www.churchillwild.com.

Photo Caption: Tourists can get as close as 200 feet to the polar bears.
Photo: Churchill Wild