Indigenous centre in Whistler reopens
New safety protocols in place as community welcomes visitors after long pandemic shutdown
In Whistler, staff at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre couldn’t wait to reopen.
Closed for more than three months, the centre welcomed people back for the first time on Friday with an estimated 60 visitors spread throughout the day, said Heather Paul, the centre’s executive director.
The driving force behind reopening were the young staff, she said, about 90 per cent of whom are from the Squamish and Lil’wat nations on whose traditional lands Whistler is located.
“This place is their second home,” she said. “The purpose that we serve is to reinvigorate the culture and reclaim that joy and commitment.
“Hearing the drums drumming every morning is a service beyond us being a café and gift shop. It is a service to revitalizing and strengthening the Squamish-Lil’wat nations.”
While the SLCC may be unique because of the sense of mission among its staff, it is also part of a larger story of some Indigenous and non-Indigenous tourist organizations and businesses taking their first steps to reopen during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In Whistler, the Audain Art Museum opened Friday. Whistler and Blackcomb are opening their gondolas and the mountain bike park on Monday.
Mayor Jack Crompton said about half the businesses in the resort are expected to be open in July and August.
“To walk through the village today, you’d get the sense that Whistler is very much open and welcoming visitors to our community,” he said.
Although Whistler has become an international four-season resort, COVID-19 reductions in air travel and border closures mean it will have to rely on domestic visitors this summer.
Crompton said Whistler is ready to focus on its connection with the Lower Mainland.
“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time last three months focusing on how we can deliver an exciting, engaging but safe holiday experience,” Crompton said. “I feel like we’re well prepared to do that.”
Whistler attracts more than three-million tourists a year whose spending accounts for 25 per cent of the province’s total tourism export revenues.
Paula Amos, chief marketing and development officer for Indigenous Tourism B.C., said about 60 per cent of all Indigenous tour guides, hotels and tourism-related businesses have reopened. In Metro Vancouver, eight are again welcoming guests.
But she said it’s important for people to do a bit of homework before they set out to visit Indigenous vacation spots around the province.
“You do have to know before you go and travel responsibly,” she said.
In addition to a list of Indigenous tourism companies that are open, Indigenous Tourism B.C. has drafted a guide called How to Travel Responsibly.
Among the eight things it says to think about is Wait to be Welcomed.
It also points out that some Indigenous territories are closed for cultural reasons: Haida Gwaii, for example, remains closed to all leisure and non-residents in part because of the need to protect fewer than a dozen elders who speak the language fluently.
At the Squamish Lillooet Cultural Centre, the decision to reopen wasn’t taken lightly.
Paul started as executive director March 9 and had to close the centre five days later because of COVID-19. It acted early to protect not only its staff but also the elders who live with or are connected to the centre’s young workforce.
Before the pandemic, a majority of its visitors were U.S. and international visitors over the age of 55.
The centre is adapting to what it believes will be a younger, domestic market by adding new food items such as bannock tacos and bannock doughnuts. They’re also selling handmade face masks designed by Squamish and Cree artists.
New safety protocols mean a change to their traditional guided tours: instead of a group led by a guide, now groups move from station to station where guides doing traditional crafts welcome them.
“We’re trying to survive during this pandemic by opening our doors, sharing our culture and looking for resources to further expand it,” she said.