Truth & Reconciliation
Wanuskewin is proud to be a place where all people can respectfully and meaningfully engage with Indigenous cultures on the collective journey of truth and reconciliation.
Enhance your event with an even deeper appreciation for Northern Plains Indigenous cultures by adding an elder opening, dance presentation, guided tour or program to your room booking or conference.
Elder and Knowledge Keeper Requests
Set the tone and deeper connections for your meeting or event with an opening prayer, talk, or smudge by an Elder or Traditional Knowledge Keeper. We currently coordinate requests for on-site meeting rooms, and off-site requests within the city limits of Saskatoon. Booking requests for outside of Saskatoon will be reviewed by the Tour and Cultural Booking Coordinator. For off-site requests, please email [email protected].
Following protocols, we ask that groups engaging with an Elder or Knowledge Keeper provide and present their own tobacco at the beginning of the scheduled event or meeting.
Opening or Closing Blessing and Prayer
$375
Half-Day Attendance Request
$750
Full-Day Attendance Request
$1100
*Please note, territorial or land acknowledgments should be done by your group during introductions and welcome as part of your group’s responsibility for reconciliation on Treaty 6 territory.
Dance Presentations
Traditional powwow style dances and singing (drumming) presentations can be booked to connect culture, history, and stories to your meeting or event.
Following protocols, we ask that groups engaging with dancers and drummers provide and present their own tobacco to each dancer, drummer, and/or singer at the beginning of the scheduled event or meeting.
In order to create the most meaningful experience for your guests, we recommend Dance Presentations be booked with a drummer. The drum provides the rhythm for the dancer to move to and enables both the drummer and dancer to express their connection to Mother Earth and respect for others. The drum uses the circle to represent balance, equality, and connection. It also represents the interconnectedness of all living things on Mother Earth. This also invites guests to learn the importance of the drum, beyond music, by learning the teachings of the drum that further illustrates the importance of celebrating life and being respectful: to live life in a good way.
Individual dancer or drummer
$325
One dancer and one drummer
$650
Additional dancers and drummers
$325
GUIDED PROGRAMMING
Wanuskewin Meeting Rooms
Explore the opimihāw Valley and its more than 6,400 years of history and culture through year-round guided tours. Your meeting group will have the opportunity to connect with our experienced interpretive guides to further your understanding of Indigenous cultures, ways of knowing, and worldviews. Perfect for all ages and demographics, our tours provide an immersive opportunity to learn more about Northern Plains Indigenous cultures.
Meeting Rooms: GUIDED TOUR / CULTURAL PROGRAM INFORMATION
- Cultural programs are all in-person guided tours with one of our interpretive guides
- Tours can run in the morning or afternoon, or multiple times throughout the day
- The participant limit is 30 participants; larger groups will be split into and charged for multiple groups
- A guide will go to your room about 5 minutes before the start time to bring you to your programming space and/or split the group up if you have multiple groups doing tours
- Guided tours are $200/group of 30 per program
- Groups larger than 30 people will be split into and charged as multiple groups
- Prices are subject to change
- The cost of the tour will be added to your event invoice
GUIDED PROGRAMMING OPTIONS FOR
MEETING ROOMS
Tipi Teachings
Join us as we share the Plains Cree style tipi teachings gifted to Wanuskewin by Elder Mary Lee, and the life lessons that go along with each of these fifteen poles.
Through this hands-on program, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the holistic nature of Plains Cree well-being and health, as well as social roles, worldview, and women’s teachings.
Curriculum Connections
This program is predominantly focused on the Social Studies and Health Education curriculums to give students a holistic view of Plains Cree health, wellbeing, and culture.
Curriculum Connections
Traditional Games
In order to survive the challenging environment of the plains, children were taught survival skills in the form of games.
Try your hand at playing some traditional games to practice your hunting, physical, and social skills during this interactive program. These games have been used as a teaching tool for thousands of years to share skills such as endurance, hand-eye coordination, and observation.
Exhibits Tour
Explore Wanuskewin’s People of the Northern Plains Hall with a guided tour of our permanent exhibit spaces and our interactive displays.
This tour features sections of the exhibits that touch on gifts from the land, language, clothing
and regalia, archaeology, beading and trade, bison, and Treaty 6. A focus on art is available on request.
Step Back in Time Walk
Get a glimpse of what daily life was like on the plains long ago during our Step Back in Time Walk.
Participants will have a chance to walk the opimihāw Valley and see the land from the perspective of Northern Plains Indigenous peoples. With a focus on the bison jump method of hunting and tipis as an ideal home on the plains, participants can explore the interdependence between the people of the plains and the environment around them.
Curriculum Connections
This program predominantly focuses on the Social Studies curriculum and explores how Northern Plains Indigenous peoples lived on the Great Plains long ago, and how they relied on the bison and grasslands ecosystem.
Curriculum Connections
Bison Walk
Learn about bison as a keystone species to the grassland ecosystem, and as a cultural keystone to Northern Plains Indigenous peoples.
Explore one of the methods of bison hunting through the nēwo asinīyak Bison Jump. Participants will learn about the spiritual relationship between Northern Plains Indigenous peoples and bison, and how the Wanuskewin bison herd is revitalizing culture and the environment.
Can be modified for indoors for weather or accessibility.
Native Plant Walk
Learn about the medicinal and edible plants in the opimihāw Valley that Indigenous peoples use for sustenance, shelter, and tools.
This program emphasizes the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the land, our role as stewards of the ecosystems we live in, and past and present resource use and survival.
In accordance with our Trail Rules participants will not be allowed to harvest, gather, pick, or consume any plants, trees, or natural objects while on this program.
Curriculum Connections
This program, created in partnerships with Elders, predominantly focuses on the Social Studies curriculum to teach students about environmental stewardship, conservation, and the connections between Indigenous peoples and the land.
Curriculum Connections
DROP-IN TABLES – 30 minutes
Wanuskewin Meeting Rooms
Looking for something interactive but less structured than a full guided program? Book a themed drop-in table that can be set up in your room during your lunch hour or over a longer break. Drop-in tables provide a hands-on chance to learn more about Northern Plains Indigenous peoples from an interpretive guide, who will stay in the room at the drop-in table for the 30-minute duration of the program.
What is a drop-in table?
- Drop-in tables are a hands on a “come and go” style program that gives you a chance to handle items and talk to an interpretive guide
- A guide will wheel a table into your room and stay in the room for the 30-minute duration of the program, and participants can come and go as they please
- Drop-in tables are $100/table, and the cost will be added to your event invoice
- There is no participant limit on this style of program
- There are 6 table themes to choose from, with the option to book multiple tables throughout the day, or to book multiple tables at one time (subject to guide availability)
- Drop-in Tables are available for evening bookings by special request and may incur an after hours charge
Drop-in Table – Act of Creating Things
A lot of work and skill goes into creating things like beadwork, clothing, and regalia, and these skills have been honed and passed on for thousands of years. Learn about wiyawinikêwin, the Plains Cree word for the act of creating things in this art-themed drop-in table.
Drop-in Table – Hides and Furs
Learn more about different types of hides, furs, and the tanning process in this drop-in table. From rawhide drums, snowshoes, and toy shields, to tanned hide tipi canvases, moss bags, and clothing, to furs for moccasin linings and traditional games, rawhide, tanned hide, and furs have hundreds of different uses.
Drop-in Table – Life in the Valley
The opimihāw Valley is home to a wide variety of animal and plant species that made it an important gathering place 6,400 years ago, and continue to make it a gathering place today. Learn more about some of the animals and plants that call the opimihāw Valley home in this ecosystem themed drop-in table.
Drop-in Table – Northern Plains Hunting Weapons
Northern Plains Indigenous peoples used a clever combination of lithics (stone tools) and aerodynamics to create hunting weapons in order to survive on the plains. With this drop-in table, see the evolution of pre-contact Northern Plains hunting weapons, from spears, to atlatls, to the bow and arrow.
Drop-in Table – The Bone Bench
From tools to art to games, animal bones have many uses for Northern Plains Indigenous peoples. In this drop-in table, learn about tools like bone awls and bone fleshers, how small bones can be made into jewelry or games, and the stone tools used to break bones open for the marrow.
Drop-in Table – Survival Games
In order to survive the challenging environment of the plains, children were taught survival skills through games. This drop-in table will let you try a few of our smaller traditional games to practice the hunting, physical, and social skills that were essential for survival on the grasslands.
Other Opportunities
We are happy to explore other ways to connect you and your guests to Northern Plains Indigenous history, cuisine, and culture. Please get in touch to discuss how we can create an authentic, memorable experience for your group.
For more information and bookings for elders, knowledge keepers, and dancers please contact [email protected]
For any outreach inquiries, PLEASE NOTE: Out of respect for Indigenous Cultures, the Dancers, Drums, Regalia, Eagle Feathers, and other sacred items present, there can be NO OPEN ALCOHOL during any Dance Presentation or Elder Services.
Wanuskewin Dance Troupe
The Wanuskewin Dance Troupe was created to showcase traditional Indigenous powwow dance styles and singing from across the Northern Plains region. Many of the performances feature champion dancers of various traditional and contemporary dance styles and music, from Treaty 6 area and across Turtle Island. Through song and dance, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences gain an appreciation of the diversity of Indigenous cultures.
You will experience the beauty of a living culture through colour, sound, and movement. These artists are leaders and role models for youth in the importance of maintaining, practicing, and revitalizing the values of Indigenous cultures.
We welcome you to learn more about the history of these dance styles and songs while watching the beautiful and meaningful dance presentations, feeling the heartbeat of the drum, and listening to the stories of each individual presenter.
miigwech, maarsii, kinanâskomitin, thank you!
