11 Cultural Sensitivity

With the sharing of Indigenous culture comes the question of sensitive locations and ceremonies. Moccasin Trails does their due diligence when involving the local community and elders. For example, the pictograph site visited on the Kelowna tour is a very sensitive subject, and conversations with the guests educate them on preservation and respect of the site. No sweat lodge experiences are offered, but they could be included in the future after consultations with the community. The local Indigenous communities always have ownership of what is shared; Greg is an outsider to the Okanagan nations, even though he lives here.

Within Canada, this type of company would not have been possible 10 years ago. As a culture, the Indigenous community was not ready spiritually, mentally, culturally, or physically to share. The memories were still too painful, and a lot of healing and reconciliation had to happen, but today, the cultural leaders are ready to share and move beyond the traumatic history.

The non-Indigenous side of the Canadian population has also changed dramatically in the last 10 years. Stereotypical viewpoints were common in the past. Today, universities and school districts are connecting with local Indigenous nations to let them write curriculum about their history and culture. As mentioned above, Moccasin Trails gives presentations at schools and universities; however, this is not the focus of this case.