Big plans for tourism on track

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Leroy Good Eagle, a member of the Siksika Nation council, said the opening of the Siksika Interpretive Centre in the summer of 2005 will jump-start an exciting host of tourist attractions in the area.

The Siksika Interpretive Centre is a part of the Blackfoot Historical Park Project which has an estimated budget of $26 million.

"I've been involved in this project for a while now. The late chief Leo Pretty Young Man was instrumental in planning... a Blackfoot historical park on the Siksika Nation one day. This project has been a long time coming," said Good Eagle.

A temporary Siksika interpretive program is located at Cascade Gardens in Banff. It began operating in1999, but is part of a grand plan to encourage tourism in Blackfoot territory.

Two Blackfoot interpreters, Dave Melting Tallow Jr. and Eulalia Running Rabbit, are employed by the program which operates out of a tipi on the grounds of the Parks Canada administration building. Their job is to educate visitors, Banff National Park employees, and town locals about the Siksika Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy.

They talk about the Castle Mountain land claim, the Blackfoot traditional territory, and how the surrounding land provided for the Blackfoot people over the generations. This summer the interpreters' main duty is to focus on promoting the 2005 grand opening of the Siksika Interpretive Centre and the Blackfoot Historical Park.

"We have the model layout of the Blackfoot Historical Park here on site at the centre," said Running Rabbit. As a Siksika Nation member, it is a great honor to be a representative for the Blackfoot people to all the visitors of the international community that travel through Banff."

"This is the best location for our interpretive centre to be set up until the Siksika interpretive centre opens," said Jeannette Many Guns, Siksika tourism coordinator.

"We are going into our sixth year and we've probably educated over 150,000 people internationally. We get approximately 200 to 300 daily visitors to the tipi on a regular basis. Even if it's only for 10 or 15 minutes, we try and funnel as much information to them as possible."

Jeanette Many Guns also discussed Siksika's long-term goals.

"A proposed display at the Calgary International Airport would advertise the Siksika Interpretive Centre and events taking place on the Siksika Nation, making this venture a great marketing tool."

Siksika Tourism is also looking to develop a Blackfoot Confederacy tour that would consist of tourists travelling by bus from the airport to Drumheller, Siksika Nation, then on to Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park, the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, then up through to the Blood Tribe with stops at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and the Peigan Nation.

"We are partnering up with Travel Alberta, Calgary Tourism and The Drumheller Royal Tyrell Museum to produce and distribute a brochure where all the partners will have an input to advertise our initiatives and important events," said Many Guns.

The U.S-based Discovery Channel visited the interpretive centre in Banff on July 27 and will air the footage on the networks Travel Guide show next April. "One reason why Discovery Channel visited the interpretive centre was to promote the Blackfoot people and the importance of our culture to the landscape within southern Alberta's tourist destinations," said Many Guns. "The Travel Guide show is seen by viewers on a global basis and this can only benefit tourism for the Siksika Nation."