7 minute read
Warrior Women
Steve Hartridge talks to Matricia Bauer, a multitalented resident of Jasper, Alberta, who shares her Cree heritage with visitors through drumming, song conversation and nature walks
Icome from a small reserve called Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation. I am a Cree Indian, I speak Nehiyawewin, which is one of the Cree dialects, and my traditional name translates into ‘She Who Moves Mountains,’” says Matricia Bauer, the founder of Jasperbased company, Warrior Women.
Matricia is an in-demand women: her many roles include tourism guide, drummer, singer, storyteller, artist, educator and ‘Indigenous Knowledge Keeper’. She also uses beads and leather to make traditional Moccasins.
Plus she works with Parks Canada, is on the board of Jasper’s Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada and is a member of both Indigenous Tourism Alberta and Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada.
Somehow she finds time to invite tourists to join her for a ‘fireside chat’ that involves songs, drumming and stories, and to walk with her into Jasper National Park to learn about the uses and medicinal values of rhe flora and plants. She also offers visitors a ‘gather and make’ tea experience.
“I share with my guests the beautiful aspects of my culture, and my journey back home to my ancestors,” she says.
During the 90-minute fireside chats, Matricia encourages client to ask questions about Indigenous topics.
“I start with drumming and singing to ease people into the environment and create a space that is welcoming. “I bare my soul and share my own story, and by being open and honest it prompts guests to join in and engage. I create a space where we can have conversations about Indigenous issues,” She adds: “I have different drum songs: some by Indigenous women, others are English songs that I have ‘Indigenised and some are written by myself and/or my daughter Mackenzie, who sometimes sings with me and is the Director of Indigenous Tourism Alberta.” Matricia explains that being a ‘Drum Keeper’ involves some strict protocol.
“You must never drum or sing under any type of alternate influence and you must always open the drum in a certain way.
“Drumming is spiritual and because we are connected to the Creator and he hears the drum beats and sees everything that happens around the drum there is a big responsibility when I play.
“I had to learn these things from my elders,” she says.
On her Wapakwanis plant walks, guests see the natural environment through a different lens and learn how Indigenous people use flowers, trees, shrubs and plants as food and medicine.
The experience includes making salves, lotions and soaps and participants leave with both new knowledge and a product they have developed themselves. “Plants and flowers provide us with sovereignty over what we eat and how we can heal ourselves. Just getting exposed to the aromatics from trees is healing in itself.
“We are used to making a salad by going to a store and buying green things in a bag, but that shows how disconnected we are from our food and medicine sources.
“Guests are often surprised that you can make lip balm from three easily-found ingredients that is naturally antibacterial, and delicious tea from just two,” she says.
“My responsibility is to share my own personal story but also to let people know that it is just one Indigenous story. I can’t speak for every Indigenous person in Canada. There are 82 different tribes, with a multitude of different experiences.
“I encourage people to seek out those experiences and have an open mind and open heart to receive all the various messages coming from different sources.” warriorwomen.com
The colours of manitoba
Offering some of the best wildlife spotting in Canada, Manitoba offers year-round nature encounters and outdoor activities, says charlotte Flach
Paddle with beluga whales in summer
fall
With changing leaves and cooler temperatures, fall is a great time to visit Manitoba. Hiking and biking excursions in Riding Mountain National Park are favourite ways to see the seasonal hues coming into their own.
A brisk hike up to Bald Hill offers incredible views of the Pembina escarpment, with fiery red-, orange- and yellowdappled trees on full display.
Clients can base themselves in Wasagaming, a quaint town site with shops and restaurants; or camp in tents, yurts, and oTENTIKs – a cross between a tent and an A-frame cabin – close to the beautiful surroundings of Riding Mountain and Clear Lake.
Autumn is also a great time to get cozy in a remote ecolodge, an authentic wood-frame Canadian lodge or wait until the tundra freezes to visit a tundra vehicle lodge, complete with outdoor bear viewing platform.
Also great as the cold closes in is the Thermea by Nordik Spa-Nature, an outdoor oasis offering a hot-coldrest cycle, then head inside for a dry sauna, specifically the Aufguss ritual, and steam rooms.
summer
At Canada’s epicentre lies the beating heart of Manitoba, home to the remote frontier town of Churchill.
Nestled on Manitoba’s northern Hudson Bay coastline, it has a tiny population of only 900 people and abundant natural habitats, making it a magnet for wildlife.
In the warmer months, the blue ocean hues and pink of the flowering fireweed are at their best, in time for thousands of beluga whales which migrate to the Churchill and Seal river estuaries from Hudson Bay.
July and August are the high season for watching them swim and play, with opportunities to get close to pods, on a zodiac, boat, kayak, Aquaglide™ or stand-up paddleboard. Paddle sports like kayaking and canoeing are a great way to navigate Manitoba’s thousands of lakes and waterways. Boating and fishing are northern Manitoba’s biggest draws, with Whiteshell Provincial Park perfect for both. For a minimal-effort way to watch the world go by, a two-to three-hour lazy river tube float experience on the Pinawa Channel takes in some of the Manitoba’s most spectacular scenery.
hike riding mountain for autumnal hues
exPlore snowy terrain by dog sled or snowmobile
year round
With wildlife experiences that rival a safari in Africa or a visit to the Galapagos Islands, clients are spoiled with year-round bucket list wildlife sightings that range from beluga whales in the summer to polar bears in the fall.
Churchill is known as the ‘polar bear capital of the world’, with almost 1,000 roaming the Hudson Bay shoreline in the autumn. In the most accessible destination to see the bears in the wild, they can be sighted from the safety of massive tundra vehicles in October and November or by trekking ground-level on an eco-friendly walking tour at a fly-in eco wilderness lodge. Mothers and cubs can be spotted roaming the summer tundra in July and August.
The town also boasts over 300 nights of aurora borealis activity a year, with the peak months to see the lights being February and March when the skies are darkest and clearest. Get a 360-degree view from a bubble-like Aurora Dom, recline in an Aurora Pod, or observe from the open-air deck of a yurt deep in the boreal forest.
Clients can even dine under the Northern lLghts in a Tundra Buggy as part of a culinary experience with Frontiers North Adventures.
Manitoba also has a year-round culture calendar that includes museums, Indigenous experiences and attractions celebrating Franco-Manitoban culture.
winter
When the temperatures drop below zero, Manitoba shines under the bright winter sun. Cold temperatures, snow and frozen lakes make Manitoba an ideal choice for snowmobiling, skiing and ice fishing – so wrap up warm and enjoy a winter wonderland.
Experience the verdant green of the boreal forest, through crisp-white snow, on a dog sledding adventure. Then learn how the mushers care for and read their dogs, with Indigenous-owned Wapusk Adventures. Or skate across the frozen waters of the the Nestaweya River Trail at The Forks in downtown Winnipeg, one of the longest skating trails in Canada.
As a deep frost sets in, Manitoba’s lakes ice over and create the perfect conditions for keen fisherman looking to learn a new skill. Ice fishing day trip options and remote all-inclusive lodge experiences offer anglers of any skill level the opportunity to reel in a monster catch.
Held in February, Festival du Voyageur embraces the cold wintry months through a blend of historical and contemporary celebration.
Bonding the traditions of the past with the vitality of the Franco-Manitoban community of today, Festival du Voyageur showcases Fort Gibraltar’s historical characters, snow sculptures created by artists from around the world, lively music and dancing, and French-Canadian food.
