Allies in Exploration

Taking that first step to learn by engaging in an experience hosted by a BIPOC or minority community is an important one. But for many allies, broaching sensitive issues with a person of a different racial or cultural background can be unnerving. We might worry about unintentionally giving offence by the way we phrase a comment, or ask a question.  

“[This] is a safe place to ask difficult questions,” says Juanita Marois, executive director at Métis Crossing in Smoky Lake, Alberta. “Some questions you can’t just ask on the street, you need a safe place to do that and tourism provides that.”   

Indigenous and minority travel and cultural offerings exist in large part to spread awareness and encourage dialogue, she explains. Such offerings are also a venue for Indigenous people to learn more about their own history, she adds. “It’s a great way for us to connect with our culture and share it with pride.”

“Just come with an honest, open heart and open mind to learn,” she encourages. 

Like Thaker, Marois cautions against making assumptions. “Some people come with tobacco offerings, but not all Métis elders want tobacco because we come from a blending of heritages. If you just ask the question, we will answer it.”

Another thing to keep in mind is that, just as each immigrant community or black community across Canada, North America and the world is distinct and unique, so too are Indigenous communities. “Because you’ve talked to a Blackfoot person and know their protocol does not mean you know Cree protocol or Métis,” Marois says. “Being open to that diversity is important as well.”

Engaging with our minority communities, asking questions and avoiding assumptions are all good ways to become a better-informed ally. Armed with knowledge, however, there is a moral responsibility to act. 

Taking the step from knowledge to action isn’t always easy, and is often fraught with those same worries about making mistakes or overstepping. Or the feelings of helplessness that come from doomscrolling. 

“For quite some time I struggled to find a voice,” says Julian Grant, a non-Indigenous person who works with the Tla-O-Qui-Aht Tribal Parks Alliance on Vancouver Island. “It was difficult being aware that I didn’t grow up with that experience. Finally, I realized that’s not the voice I’m expected to raise.”

Talking with Grant, it is very clear that he recognizes the immense debt Canadians owe to Indigenous people, and that is how he raises his voice. “The conditions, the ecological integrity of the region upon which tourism depends, exist because of the many generations of careful stewardship by the First Nations.”

Environment adds another layer to moral responsibility. Respecting nature and doing your part to protect it wherever you travel is just good citizenship, but it is also part of allyship, says Mackenzie Brown with Indigenous Tourism Alberta. “Being a good ally also means taking care of the land. Many Indigenous people across the world are land-based people.” 

Contextualizing our environmental responsibility as social responsibility immerses us in both a local perspective and a global worldview at the same time, It reminds us that every action has an impact and we are all in this together.  

“We all stand to gain so much by having our ideas of nature and people challenged, and made a little more complicated,” says Grant. “There are so many problems in the world right now and humans are responsible for so much of it, it’s difficult not to think of our species as a parasite.”

But there is hope.

Terry Dorward (top left) has been working to build the Tribal Parks Alliance; conversation efforts resulting in one of the world’s most preserved biospheres. The Tla-o-qui-aht describe the area as a sacred ancient gardens, you may know it as the region in and around Tofino BC.

“Learning from and connecting with these communities can help us overcome this crippling apathy so many of us feel, to not give up on our moral responsibility to leave the world a little better than we found it," says Grant.

In this sense, travel and cultural exploration is just a platform to connect us, to help us transcend our individual perspectives and remember that greater sense of belonging -- this is at the heart of our desire to travel. 

“People want to transform themselves,” says Marois, “to fundamentally grow through their travel experiences, and these experiences are an amazing way to do that… to change our world view.”

There’s never been a better time to embrace that change.