First Nation hiking tours in Canada
| country: | Canada |
| location: | Canadian Rockies, Alberta, British Columbia, Kootenay National Park |
| departures: | 2009: 28 Sep |
| price: | From CA $985 - CA $2195 (4-8 days) excluding flights, including accommodation, meals based on double occupancy, as well as guides. Private departures may be possible. Prices depend on accommodation chosen. Special/other date requests are welcome. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to First Nation hiking tours in Canada
We are a wilderness adventure company in the Canadian Rocky Mountains that specializes in hiking and backpacking to spectacular wilderness areas, with so much more.
Our secluded trips are environmentally sensitive and provide a unique opportunity to enjoy great scenery and abundant wildlife, while discovering and learning about the plants and animals.
Part of the uniqueness of our trips is our nature awareness activities based on Canadian First Nations aboriginal teachings and seeing the wilderness through native eyes.
Guests will learn to identify common plants and tracks, taste some of the delicious vegetation, learn some wilderness skills, or in some programs even take part in powerful and authentic native ceremonies with a native elder. We work on secluded trails, as well as National Park trails, with every trip offering spectacular views. Other activities to enjoy with us include rafting, mountain biking, and fishing.
Our programs are based out of the remote wilderness lodge, Cross River Cabins, which is located in the backcountry of the Rocky Mountains just south of Banff, Lake Louise, and Banff National Park. Our packages are designed to offer individuals and small groups a safe, unique, and enjoyable wilderness experience, with a bonus of educational and cultural learning. Meals, accommodations, activity costs, certified guides, and transportation from Banff are all included in our prices as noted.
Hawk Wisdow Nature Week
8 days total; CA $ 1,490.00. In many indigenous tribes around North America, Hawk is the explorer and messenger of our animal relations. This week-long wilderness experience is a fun and profound introduction to the gifts that Hawk brings – observance, discovery, responsibility, and awareness – through traditional indigenous teachings. First, you will have the opportunity to explore your own place here on the earth on a variety of spectacular day hikes. Your experience then continues with a native elder, and other experienced facilitators, who will help prepare and guide you in your own solo wilderness outing, based on a traditional indigenous Vision Quest ceremony.
This sacred quest is one of the most respected rites of passage for indigenous peoples in search of answers to questions and challenges in their own lives. In the spirit of Hawk, this quest can help you discover those talents you have, but are not using; those solutions you need, but can’t see in an earthbound rut.
Activities: Lodge-based nature awareness and native cultural activities with a native elder, all-inclusive: day hike; nature walk; native ceremonies; solo wilderness outing, based on a traditional Vision Quest ceremony, facilitated by a native elder. Flights are excluded.
Elk Runner Nature Weekend
4 days total; all-inclusive lodge based interpretive out trips with cabin accommodation: guided day hike with a certified hiking guide to a secluded mountain alpine area; nature and native cultural activities with a native elder; native ceremonies; wild/cultural skill activity.
"We wish to help you hear the whisper of our landscape, and feel the movement of our lives entwined in it. My sincere hope is that you will be rewarded". - Frank Powderface, Chief of the Chiniki indian band, Nakoda Nation, 1983, Canada.
This package is a unique immersion into the wilderness, giving you time to enjoy a real Rocky Mountain adventure. You will have time to relax, have fun, and enjoy in comfort, your new wilderness surroundings. We will start with a formal evening campfire, sharing music and insight into the First Nations Culture, and how through the centuries they have learned to develop a strong connection with the earth and natural world.
The next day with an experienced guide, you will spend a day in the wilderness hiking to areas less traveled by others and seldom visited by anybody. You will safely experience this rugged and beautiful mountain wilderness having the opportunity to see green forests and mountain peaks as far as the eye can see; to hear the sounds of the natural world, like a raging waterfall, trickling stream, or the sound of silence; to smell the natural growth cycles and thousands of wildflowers in the sub-alpine meadows; and taste clean, crystal clear mountain water.
Your adventure then continues the next day at our tipi village with a native elder who guides us in ceremonies, traditional ancient teachings and a melody of ancient songs of the land used by natives to reconnect with their place and path in the world. There is much that nature gives us and much we have forgotten about it; it will be our teacher for a few days strengthening the bond between the earth and the human spirit.
Spirit Walker
8 Days Total; all inclusive lodge-based interpretive out trips/Cabin (5 nights)/Tent (2 nights) accommodation; 3 day backpacking and exploring expedition; river rafting; native ceremonies; hiking; native cultural and wilderness activities with a native elder.
"Everyone likes to give as well as receive. No one wishes only to receive all the time. We have taken much from your culture…I wish you had taken something from our culture…for there were beautiful and good things in it". - Dan "Teswahno" George, famous chief of the Squamish indian band, 1951-1963, Canada.
The native North American culture and their rich history in the Canadian Rocky Mountains are inseparable from the natural environment that surrounds us, those wide expanses of nature and wilderness that the natives devoted their culture to respecting and protecting long before we arrived. This unique package was created to give you an exciting wilderness adventure, including hiking, backpacking, exploring, and river rafting, alongside the opportunity to experience the wilderness through native eyes. Connecting with the natural world in this way will be an enlightening and refreshing experience that will also help us open up as we partake in some native ceremonies at the end of the week. The early ancestors of the Kootenay River valley and surrounding areas become our spiritual guides this week as we have fun digging down into the essence of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and beyond.
Our secluded trips are environmentally sensitive and provide a unique opportunity to enjoy great scenery and abundant wildlife, while discovering and learning about the plants and animals.
Part of the uniqueness of our trips is our nature awareness activities based on Canadian First Nations aboriginal teachings and seeing the wilderness through native eyes.
Guests will learn to identify common plants and tracks, taste some of the delicious vegetation, learn some wilderness skills, or in some programs even take part in powerful and authentic native ceremonies with a native elder. We work on secluded trails, as well as National Park trails, with every trip offering spectacular views. Other activities to enjoy with us include rafting, mountain biking, and fishing.
Our programs are based out of the remote wilderness lodge, Cross River Cabins, which is located in the backcountry of the Rocky Mountains just south of Banff, Lake Louise, and Banff National Park. Our packages are designed to offer individuals and small groups a safe, unique, and enjoyable wilderness experience, with a bonus of educational and cultural learning. Meals, accommodations, activity costs, certified guides, and transportation from Banff are all included in our prices as noted.
Hawk Wisdow Nature Week
8 days total; CA $ 1,490.00. In many indigenous tribes around North America, Hawk is the explorer and messenger of our animal relations. This week-long wilderness experience is a fun and profound introduction to the gifts that Hawk brings – observance, discovery, responsibility, and awareness – through traditional indigenous teachings. First, you will have the opportunity to explore your own place here on the earth on a variety of spectacular day hikes. Your experience then continues with a native elder, and other experienced facilitators, who will help prepare and guide you in your own solo wilderness outing, based on a traditional indigenous Vision Quest ceremony.
This sacred quest is one of the most respected rites of passage for indigenous peoples in search of answers to questions and challenges in their own lives. In the spirit of Hawk, this quest can help you discover those talents you have, but are not using; those solutions you need, but can’t see in an earthbound rut.
Activities: Lodge-based nature awareness and native cultural activities with a native elder, all-inclusive: day hike; nature walk; native ceremonies; solo wilderness outing, based on a traditional Vision Quest ceremony, facilitated by a native elder. Flights are excluded.
Elk Runner Nature Weekend
4 days total; all-inclusive lodge based interpretive out trips with cabin accommodation: guided day hike with a certified hiking guide to a secluded mountain alpine area; nature and native cultural activities with a native elder; native ceremonies; wild/cultural skill activity.
This package is a unique immersion into the wilderness, giving you time to enjoy a real Rocky Mountain adventure. You will have time to relax, have fun, and enjoy in comfort, your new wilderness surroundings. We will start with a formal evening campfire, sharing music and insight into the First Nations Culture, and how through the centuries they have learned to develop a strong connection with the earth and natural world.
The next day with an experienced guide, you will spend a day in the wilderness hiking to areas less traveled by others and seldom visited by anybody. You will safely experience this rugged and beautiful mountain wilderness having the opportunity to see green forests and mountain peaks as far as the eye can see; to hear the sounds of the natural world, like a raging waterfall, trickling stream, or the sound of silence; to smell the natural growth cycles and thousands of wildflowers in the sub-alpine meadows; and taste clean, crystal clear mountain water.
Your adventure then continues the next day at our tipi village with a native elder who guides us in ceremonies, traditional ancient teachings and a melody of ancient songs of the land used by natives to reconnect with their place and path in the world. There is much that nature gives us and much we have forgotten about it; it will be our teacher for a few days strengthening the bond between the earth and the human spirit.
Spirit Walker
8 Days Total; all inclusive lodge-based interpretive out trips/Cabin (5 nights)/Tent (2 nights) accommodation; 3 day backpacking and exploring expedition; river rafting; native ceremonies; hiking; native cultural and wilderness activities with a native elder.
The native North American culture and their rich history in the Canadian Rocky Mountains are inseparable from the natural environment that surrounds us, those wide expanses of nature and wilderness that the natives devoted their culture to respecting and protecting long before we arrived. This unique package was created to give you an exciting wilderness adventure, including hiking, backpacking, exploring, and river rafting, alongside the opportunity to experience the wilderness through native eyes. Connecting with the natural world in this way will be an enlightening and refreshing experience that will also help us open up as we partake in some native ceremonies at the end of the week. The early ancestors of the Kootenay River valley and surrounding areas become our spiritual guides this week as we have fun digging down into the essence of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and beyond.
traveller reviews for First Nation hiking tours in Canada
The highlights were the location, hosts and the routes they planned. (more)
how this holiday makes a difference
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Each of our wilderness packages are more than an adventure, they are a cultural and educational experience. You will be more than explorers and adventurers, you will be challenged and encouraged to expand both physically and mentally. Along side our standard adventure and nature activities, such as hiking, whitewater rafting, and mountain biking, your visit could include various other enlightening and humbling experiences, encouraging us to be stewards and caretakers of the land and better understand our place on Mother Earth:
 Whether at our picturesque lodge setting or at a cozy camp in the backcountry, our trips offer guests the unique opportunity to be remote in nature. We are not on the sides of any busy highways, nor adjacent to any crowded cities, and use this incredible gift in today’s world to learn from, and empower, rejuvenate, and inspire us. Much of our focus is on balancing personal comfort with amazing natural experiences that you can’t get in the city, or even in the busier parts of the Rocky Mountains. While providing personal comfort, we are also continually gifted to be in the wild with the sweet smells of the wildflowers in the forest, the sound of the nearby trickling creek, the breathtaking mountain views all around, and the momentous chance sightings of the abundant wildlife, including bears, deer, elk, cougars, and marmots. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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