Indian time is making a comeback, says senator

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Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps, was at the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford on May 11 participating in an Aboriginal tourism round table hosted by Parks Canada and attended by Aboriginal Tourism Team Canada, the national organization representing Aboriginal tourism groups. It was there that she announced funding of $1.23 million for 22 projects under the Aboriginal component of the Museums Assistant Program (MAP).

"This funding is for specific Aboriginal projects that are occurring in our museums," Copps said.

Although the Woodland Cultural Centre was the host location for this announcement, it was not on the list of museums to be funded. The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto was the only Ontario organization that made the list.

"We fund accredited art galleries and museums and the Royal Ontario Museum is the premier museum in Aboriginal interpretation," said Copps.

However, Copps stressed that the bigger story was the historical meeting itself.

"This is the first time that we've actually sat down and had a national look at how we might better integrate Aboriginal culture into our heritage," she said.

The round table was attended by band chiefs, government officials and business owners in the Aboriginal tourism trade, who held discussions throughout the day on topics including the need to build stronger partnerships and links between organizations, and integrating Aboriginal cultural interpretation into all 39 national parks.

Discussions were also held on ways to improve connections to Aboriginal destinations and ways to ensure tourists receive authentic experiences once they arrive there.

"We also need to provide better integrated assistance for people to be able to interpret. When you come to a site, you want to have the visitor going away feeling like they were part of an Aboriginal experience," Copps added.

Although the tourism of Canada portfolio actually falls under the federal department of Industry Canada, Copps has undertaken the cause because of her interest and her willingness to work together with tourism to obtain a better-integrated relationship.

"What we're hoping to do as a result of this meeting is actually work, in a holistic way, with other departments," she said. "There is an opportunity, through cross-departmental work, to get the message of this back to the Minister of Human Resources," she added.

With a $3.2 billion annual budget for her portfolio of Canadian Heritage, Copps said that only $80 million of her budget deals with Aboriginal culture and language.

"There are 53 Aboriginal languages spoken in our country and the vast majority of them are on the verge of disappearing," she said. "We have world conferences to seek consensus on the support of endangered animal species. Where is the consensus for the human species?" she asked.

Copps wants the Aboriginal heritage story heard by not only tourists to Canada but by Canadians as well.

"We also feel that we need to do a better job at interpreting Aboriginal culture to our own country," she added.

Senator Aurelien Gill of Nova Scotia said the growth in Aboriginal tourism brings back the real concept of "Indian time."

"There used to be sneers at Indian time, which was said to be incompatible with the demands of modern living," he said. Through Aboriginal tourism, traditional culture and authentic tourist experiences will help relieve the stresses of modern life. The concept of Indian time will become an incentive to the tourism industry.

Copps announced that a national summit in June 2002 would review the relationship with Aboriginal people in arts and culture in a broader way. "We want all the other organizations, like the CBC, that promote heritage and culture to be aware and sensitive to the fact that our culture didn't start 130 years ago," she said.

Constance Jamieson, chair of Aboriginal Tourism Team Canada, was delighted with the outcome of the round table.

"Minister Copps has clearly indcated a commitment," to the first tourism operators of the country, she said. "We provided guide and interpretative services, transportation, food and lodgings to early Europeans exploring this vast land of ours. And that tradition lives on."