Calgary Herald

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Tsuut’ina open for business

- LICIA CORBELLA lcorbella@postmedia.com

For years, “No Trespassin­g ” signs made it clear where City of Calgary land ended and Tsuut’ina reserve land began.

Those signs are not only gone — Tsuut’ina Chief Lee Crowchild and council literally rolled out the red carpet Thursday to Calgary business, arts and community leaders in what was called an “unpreceden­ted” and “historic” dinner to share the nation’s vision of the future. And that future is bright and grand.

The evening started with a bus tour of enormous constructi­on sites, including work on the ring road, which is slated to be completed by 2021.

Hal Eagletail, a veritable walking encycloped­ia of Tsuut’ina history and jokes, said in 1997, when the Canadian Forces base left the south side of the reserve, 30,000 jobs left with it.

“We hope to triple the number of jobs coming to this area to 90,000 with our plans,” said Eagletail on the luxury coach as it drove past a part of the Elbow River that has been diverted for ring road constructi­on.

The old ice rinks on the reserve had to be destroyed to make way for the road, and that’s led to the creation of the 7 Chiefs SportsPlex and the Chief Jim Starlight Centre on 19 Chiila Boulevard. It already looks impressive, and is expected to open in December, sporting two indoor rinks with 1,150-squarefoot change rooms, gymnasiums, a third-level running track, commercial kitchen and even a covered outdoor rink with heated change rooms.

The bus drives past the daycare building, the band’s own police station into the gas station — where gas is just $1.21 — about 15 cents per litre cheaper than in other parts of the city and open to everyone — along with the craft store, and then past the Tsuut’ina Nation Culture Museum. The band council offices are stunning, designed to look like a beaver dam and lodge, as Tsuut’ina means the beaver people.

Back at the hotel, guests are ushered along red carpets to one of the hotel’s convention rooms, where executive chef Bill Alexander prepared a dinner of stuffed leg of lamb and other tasty items.

Each of the tables had a band elder and a youth member, and each place setting had some braided sweetgrass and sage — so essential to Aboriginal ceremonies.

The evening was called For Our Children (Nihisgaka Ogha) said Crowchild, who welcomed the 136 dinner guests.

“It’s been a long journey to get to this point where we open the doors to the Calgary community,” said the chief.

“We’ve gone through periods of being afraid, nervous about what the future is. But here we all are, sitting in this room together, hosting people from outside of our community, and we’re doing it with what our relatives, our ancestors, always wanted from us — it’s to do it with open hearts, with kindness. We’re doing the best we can for the future,” he said.

Besides the sportsplex is a vision for a $4.5-billion, multiphase, multi-use developmen­t called Taza (amaze) that will bring more entertainm­ent and sports, hotels, homes, shops and even industry to the part of the reserve near the nation’s existing Grey Eagle Casino and hotel in Calgary’s southwest. Big-box stores, outlet malls, auto dealership­s and boutiques are part of the plan as well.

The hope, says Crowchild, is to keep some of the $97 million the band’s 2,200 people spend in Calgary inside Tsuut’ina in order to build better housing, schools and programs “for our children.”

“We are excited about the future,” said Crowchild. “We want you to come back and visit the museum, visit Grey Eagle, visit us, but mostly, visit our casino, because our housing program will really appreciate that,” he said to laughter.

“As winter finally turns to spring, we’re also a bit jumpy about the rain and the water,” he said, referring to the 2013 June flood that devastated Calgary, Canmore, Bragg Creek and Redwood Meadows (which is owned by the Tsuut’ina).

“We are having respectful, constructi­ve and open conversati­ons with the three levels of government about the Springbank dry dam. We hope to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution by the fall,” he added.

“When I became Xakiji (chief ), it was very important to me to open the window in the wall between our nation and our neighbours,” said Crowchild. “We have a long history living side by side, but we really don’t know each other.”

He went on to tell a story about his great-grandfathe­r Crowchild, who in his later years, became a Catholic.

“The church they had at the time was in downtown Calgary near Firehall No.1. So on Saturday, he saddled up his horse and he could only get so far because really we weren’t allowed to leave the reserve.”

He’d walk all the way to Firehall No. 1, where a cot was “especially saved” for his greatgrand­father, who would spend the night.

“On Sunday morning, he’d go to church. Then the fire department would load up their wagons and their horses and they’d give him a ride down 24th Street, and that became known as Crowchild’s Trail. As my grandfathe­r became Xakiji, he worked at building those bridges as well. That’s why Crowchild Bridge was named after him and then they just carried it on,” he said.

Over the course of the next three weeks, the chief and council will host three more dinners, inviting stakeholde­rs from all background­s — from politics, arts, industry, education, technology and innovation.

“We want to find ways to work together, to build together, to create and imagine together. We’re open for ideas and for business. We’re all intertwine­d, braided and bound like sweetgrass to forge a new future across different background­s and borders,” said Crowchild.

“We can only do that together.” It’s a beautiful vision for our children. Nihisgaka Ogha.

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 ?? GAVIN YOUNG ?? Tsuut’ina Chief Lee Crowchild greets guests before a bus tour of new developmen­t on the reserve southwest of Calgary. The evening also included a dinner with elders and young native artists.
GAVIN YOUNG Tsuut’ina Chief Lee Crowchild greets guests before a bus tour of new developmen­t on the reserve southwest of Calgary. The evening also included a dinner with elders and young native artists.
 ?? GAVIN YOUNG ?? The new sportsplex and community centre sporting two indoor rinks and a commercial kitchen is expected to open in December.
GAVIN YOUNG The new sportsplex and community centre sporting two indoor rinks and a commercial kitchen is expected to open in December.
 ??  ?? A massive commercial real estate developmen­t called Taza is planned on the Tsuut’ina Nation, bordering the city limits.
A massive commercial real estate developmen­t called Taza is planned on the Tsuut’ina Nation, bordering the city limits.
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