Members of a number of Stó:lo communities and other participants will discuss the logistics of a cultural tourism venture, including planning, operations and the fine balance of economic and cultural interests.
The group will also think about which elements of their culture – stories, dances, songs, and images – could be offered as a tourism experience and what should remain off limits and why.
The SFU-based Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project is organizing the workshop. Workshop facilitator Alexis Bunten, a Native Alaskan scholar and IPinCH Project ethnographer, says one of the event’s goals is to work together to raise the right questions in the unique context of the Stó:lo Nation.
“Approaches that support growth in tourism can be in direct conflict with traditional protocols governing cultural resources, intellectual property and protection,” Bunten says. “Tribal leaders are wary of cultural degradation that can result from packaging culture according to outside tastes and consumptive patterns.”
Workshop co-organizer Dave Schaepe is an adjunct professor in SFU’s School of Resource and Environmental Management and also director of the Stó:lo Research and Resource Management Centre. He says the event “will provide Stó:lo tourism operators with strategic and informed guidance addressing the relationship between culture, capitalism, and intellectual properties – to aid in doing things in a good way.”
Guest speakers include Mark McKernan from the Huna Totem Corporation’s Alaska Native Voices, a consulting firm specializing in cross-cultural interpretation. Workshop attendees will also be treated to performances by the Semoya Dancers – Stó:lo performers who engage the audience with songs, stories, and traditional dance.
- Dave Schaepe, Stó:lo Research and Resource Management Centre, 604.824.2420,dave.schaepe@srrmcentre.com
- George Nicholas, SFU Archaelogy, nicholas@sfu.ca, 778.782.5709
- Dixon Tam, SFU media relations, 778.782.8742, dixont@sfu.ca
