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.
Following protocols, we ask that groups engaging an Elder or Knowledge Keeper provide and present their own tobacco at the scheduled meeting.
*Please note that Land Acknowledgements are part of your group’s introduction and welcome.
Costs
Opening or Closing Blessing and Prayer: $300.00
Half-day attendance request*: $300.00
Full-day attendance request*: $600.00
*pricing is subject to change, and based upon availability.
Wanuskewin Dance Troupe – Dance Presentations
Traditional powwow style dances and singing (drumming) presentations can be booked to connect culture, history, and stories to your meeting or event.
Packages and Pricing
Kehkehk (The Hawk)
- 1 First Nations powwow-style dancer
- 1 First Nations singer/drummer
- Duration: 30 minutes (approximate)
- Cost: $500.00
Maskwa (The Bear)
- 2 First Nations powwow-style dancers
- 2 First Nations singers/drummers
- Duration: 35-40 minutes (approximate)
- Cost: $1000.00
Mahihkan (The Wolf)
- 3 First Nations powwow-style dancers
- 2 First Nations singers/drummers
- Duration: 45 minutes (approximate)
- Cost: $1,250.00
Paskwaw-Mostos (The Bison)
- 5 First Nations powwow-style dancers
- 1 drum group (4-5 First Nations singers)
- Duration: 60 minutes (approximate)
- Cost: $2,500.00
Mikisiw (The Eagle)
- 8 First Nations powwow-style dancers
- 1 drum group (4-5 First Nations singers)
- Duration: 120 minutes (approximate)
- Cost: $3250.00
For more information and bookings, please contact [email protected] or call (306) 931-6767 ext. 230.
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 $175/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
The tipi is the perfect home for life on the plains.
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. We hope that participants are able to 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, through this hands-on program.
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
A guided tour of our exhibit spaces and exploration time with 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.
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.
Curriculum Connections
This program predominantly focuses on the Social Studies curriculum to provide a holistic overview of the relationship between bison and both the Northern Plains Indigenous peoples and the Great Plains themselves.
Curriculum Connections
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
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
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!
