Six places in British Columbia’s six regions with enriching indigenous cultural experiences

1 Vancouver Island

In an old-growth rainforest on the rugged west coast, the Yuu-thlu-ilthaht (Ucluelet) First Nation built Wya Point Resort (http://www.wyapoint. com/#) on the prior site of a village outside Ucluelet. Choose from tent and RV camping or waterfront yurts with private access to Wya Beach or nine luxurious ocean-front timber lodges built with local red cedar.

Raised on stilts, each lodge is designed by a local carver and artist and named for an important animal. The totem poles in each are works of art.

2 Northern BC

Accessible by plane or ferry, the Haida Heritage Centre at K’aay Llnagaay (Sea Lion Town) resembles the ancient seaside village that once stood here on Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off BC’S north-west coast. Six master-carved totem poles front the complex, representing the southernmost villages. Watch artists at work on monumental poles and canoes in the Carving House, then learn about Haida’s vital mode of transportation in the Canoe House.

The Saving Things House – the Haida Gwaii Museum – displays historical objects, art and natural history collections. haidaheritagecentre.com

3 Cariboo Chilcotin Coast

Deep in the Great Bear Rainforest – part of the world’s largest coastal temperate rainforest – beneath a canopy of red cedar trees lie the 10,000-year-old Thorsen Creek petroglyphs. Hike into the Bella Coola Valley site with Copper Sun Journeys (coppersunjourneys.com). At mosscovered rocks etched with carvings by his Nuxalk ancestors, Chris Nelson interprets their meanings and shares, through words and songs, the Nuxalk people’s story “through our eyes, right from creation through to smallpox and the potlatch ban, to today.”

4 Vancouver Coast & Mountains

The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (slcc.ca) in Whistler showcases the art and heritage of the Squamish and Lil’wat Nations – Salish-speaking Coast and Interior neighbours. The Great Hall is crowned by a 12-metre Salish hunting canoe carved from a single cedar tree. Join a cultural ambassador for a tour or make a drum or dreamcatcher. In Vancouver, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (moa.ubc.ca) highlights First Nations

works, which include a glass-walled

Great Hall with towering poles and house posts. Don’t miss the world’s largest collection of pieces by famed

Haida artist Bill Reid.

5 Thompson Okanagan

Nk’mip Cellars is North America’s first indigenous-owned and -operated winery, situated on Osoyoos Indian Band land in the South Okanagan (greatestatesokanagan.com/visit-us/ Nkmip-cellars). Sup international award-wining wines paired with farm-to-table bites, prepped with indigenous techniques, at the Patio Restaurant overlooking Lake Osoyoos. Nearby, at the Nk’mip Desert Cultural Centre (nkmipdesert.com), walking trails reveal the band’s deep ties to Canada’s only pocket desert. Stay at Spirit Ridge (hyatt.com/en-us/hotel/ canada/spirit-ridge/ylwub) next door.

6 Kootenay Rockies

Nestled into the mountainside along the shore of Kootenay Lake, Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort (ainsworthhotsprings.com) is in the traditional homelands of the Ktunaxa. After battle, warriors soaked in the medicinal spirit waters. Today the healing hot springs are still a place for good medicine. Bathe in the mineralrich restorative waters in a natural horseshoe cave or in the lounging pool, and then indulge in a treatment, like a steamy body wrap with wild medicinal plants, in the refurbished Spirit Water Spa.

Indigenous art (clockwise from top left) Depicting the Haida creation myth and carved from a single block of laminated yellow cedar, The Raven and the First Men is a sculpture by Haida artist Bill Reid and found in the rotunda of the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology; the Haida Heritage Centre at K’aay Llnagaay, Graham Island, Haida Gwaii; ancient prehistoric petroglyph carved by indigenous First Nations people in the Great Bear Rainforest region, Bella Coola