Canada Guide
Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Wanuskewin Heritage Park
Opening time: April to late May & Sept daily 9am–5pm; late May to Aug daily 9am–9pm; Oct– March Wed– Sun 9am–5pm
Website: www.wanuskewin.com
Price: $8.50
Wanuskewin Heritage Park, twenty minutes' drive north of Saskatoon's centre – along Hwy 10 then Warman and Wanuskewin roads – is designed to be the city's principal tourist attraction, a lavish tribute to the culture of the Northern Plains Indians. It's well worth the trip out here, as the commercial aspect is played down in favour of a sensitive interpretation of the Indians' spiritual relationship to the land and to living creatures. Bordering the South Saskatchewan River in the attractive wooded Opamihaw Valley, the park embraces a string of marshy creeks and wooded ridges that have been used by native peoples for more than six thousand years. All along the trails are ecologically fragile plants and flowers that must not be picked. The nineteen sites are connected by trails and walkways to a visitor centre that features reconstructions of tepees, a buffalo pound and a buffalo jump as well as displays on traditional skills as diverse as tool-making and storytelling. The park can also arrange for overnight camping in tepees with breakfast, dinner cooked on the fire and interpretive programmes including storytelling and bannock-making (mid-May to Sept; reservation essential), plus longer sessions of two or three nights. The attached restaurant specializes in indigenous foodstuffs such as buffalo meat and bannock bread, and a gift shop has a full range of authentic arts and crafts by native people. Wanuskewin has been developed with the cooperation of local native peoples, who provide most of the interpretive staff. There is no public transport; a taxi from downtown costs around $20.