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MUSEUMS + CULTURAL CENTRES + HERITAGE SITES + GALLERIES
Bring Learning to Life:
Indigenous Immersive and Experiential Learning in BC
At the heart of Indigenous learning principles lies a profound respect for independent learning that supports the wellness of self and community through observation, listening, and active participation, often with minimal intervention or distraction.
From class field trips to corporate team building, these are some of the Indigenous immersive and experiential learning experiences available in British Columbia. Engage the senses, accommodate different learning styles, encourage self-reflection and introspection, and foster a deeper understanding of Indigenous Peoples in BC.
Learning Leaves the Desk:
Explore and experiment for improved collaboration, comprehension, and retention.
Cultural centers, museums, galleries, and heritage sites serve as dynamic spaces where students, learners, teachers, and work teams can delve into the richness of Indigenous knowledge through multi-sensory experiences that bring learning off the page. By incorporating sight, sound, touch, and even taste, these experiences foster improved comprehension and retention and a deeper emotional connection to learning.
Hands-on and hands-up for growth.
Indigenous experiential learning opens doors to a world of learning beyond boardrooms and textbooks, allowing active exploration and engagement with cultural knowledge. Indigenous immersive learning challenges individuals to step out of their comfort zones and consider diverse perspectives.
Tse’k’wa National Historic Site
Charlie Lake BC
The Tse’k’wa National Historic Site was created through the joint efforts of three Dane-ẕaa Nations: Doig River First Nation, Prophet River First Nation, and West Moberly First Nations.
Tse’k’wa invites visitors to experience blending Indigenous wisdom and modern science, connecting the past with the present and future. This immersive journey fosters a deep respect for the region’s First Nations. Whether strolling along the trails or exploring the healing garden’s wild plants, there are many opportunities to connect with the land and discover the vibrant culture of the Dane-zaa people.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Tse’k’wa National Historic Site
Nisga’a Museum
Laxgalts’ap
The Nisga’a Museum is Hli Goothl Wilp-Adokshl Nisga’a, which means “The Heart of Nisga’a House Crests,” a name that celebrates the importance of tribes and tribal crests in Nisga’a society. The heart of the Nisga’a Museum is the Ancestors’ Collection, containing carved masks, bentwood boxes, headdresses, soul catchers, and other works. The treasures in the Ancestors’ Collection were returned to the Nass Valley from museums in Ottawa and Victoria as part of the Nisga’a Treaty. Now, for the first time, they are displayed together in their place of origin.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Nisga’a Museum
Tluu Xaada Naay
Haida Gwaii
The Tluu Xaada Naay Society (Canoe People’s House) is a community of artisans focused on safeguarding and celebrating Haida culture in visual arts, performance, language, and traditions. Situated in Northern Haida Gwaii, the society offers visitors an immersive opportunity to explore Haida art and heritage. It is a place where expert totem pole and canoe carvers work alongside apprentices and students, creating cedar canoes and other art pieces that are always in development.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Tluu Xaada Naay Haida Canoe Totem & Design
Haida Heritage Centre
Haida Heritage Centre At Kay ‘Llnagaay
Kay ‘Llnagaay | Skidegate
The Haida Heritage Centre at Kay ‘Llnagaay is an award-winning Indigenous cultural tourism attraction located on Haida Gwaii at Kay ‘Llnagaay or Sea-Lion Town, an ancient village site. The Centre celebrates the living culture of the Haida people–it is their gift to the world.
The Centre was designed to resemble the traditional oceanside Haida village that once stood in its place with a series of traditional long houses constructed to blend into the original Haida Gwaii Museum.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Haida Gwaii Museum–Saahlinda Naay
Ḵay ‘Llnagaay | Skidegate
Saahlinda Naay, the Haida Gwaii Museum, is committed to using art as a means of facilitating creative dialogue that encourages a holistic and critical exploration of the multiple, diverse ways to understand Haida Gwaii. The underlying theme running through the museum is the complex link between the land, the sea, human beings, and Supernatural Beings–all which give Haida Gwaii its incomparable natural and cultural character.
Take a fascinating look into Haida Gwaii culture from diverse perspectives where Haida knowledge, western science, art, and politics all blend together in a fluid and constantly changing context.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Haida Gwaii Museum | Northern BC Tourism/Shayd Johnson
‘Ksan Historical Village and Museum
‘Ksan Historical Village and Museum
Hazelton
The ‘Ksan Historical Village and Museum opened its doors to the public in 1970, to the beat of ceremonial drums and the songs and dances of the GItxsan dancers.The people of the river of mist have inhabited this area for thousands of years.
The Gitxsan encourage visitors to come and learn the ways of their people and explore their history. At the Ksan Historical Village and Museum, trained storytellers are waiting to tell you who the Gitxsan were and are today.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Sncewips Heritage Museum
West Kelowna
Sncewips Heritage Museum provides a protected place for sqilxʷ representation, culture, and heritage. Sncewips (sen-cha-weeps) translates to “how our tangible objects tell our story” or “a conversation with an ancestor.”
This is a living museum, meaning that the artifacts displayed and the cultural practices shared with guests at the museum are actively used and practiced by the sqilxʷ People today. The museum tour explores self-government, traditional tools and dwellings, family and community structures, cultural practices, storytelling, and more.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Sncewips Heritage Museum
Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre | Destination BC/Andrew Strain
Nk’Mip Cultural Centre
Osoyoos
The spectacular Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre (pronounced in-ka-meep) is a state-of-the-art interpretive centre is an architectural marvel sensitively constructed into a hillside. Extensive indoor and outdoor exhibit galleries create a fun, interactive learning environment with hands-on displays, education stations and two multimedia theatre experiences. Discover the fascinating stories of Canada’s only desert and share in the rich living culture of the Okanagan People.
There are two multi-sensory theatres where you can experience the legends of Sen’klip (the Coyote). Discover the desert ecology and wildlife in the “Living Land” display and the “Critter Corner” where you can see eye-to-eye with a Western Rattlesnake and a Great Basin Desert Snake. In the Inkameep Day school Exhibit, explore a collection of art done by students aged six to sixteen at a school on the reserve in the 1930s.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
McAbee Fossil Beds Heritage Site
Cache Creek
The McAbee Fossil Fields, operated by the Bonaparte First Nation, provide a unique and educational experience for visitors. This expansive fossil field contains diverse plant, insect, and fish fossils and offers a glimpse into the ancient past, allowing you to explore the rich history and cultural significance of the area.
The total loop of the trail spans 8 kilometers, with approximately 1.5 kilometers of easy-to-access trails, making it a manageable daytrip for students and their teachers. Along the way, you’ll encounter informative trail signs that provide insights into the original village sites and the rich history of the Bonaparte First Nation.
This experience is open in the summer months, call the Bonaparte First Nation (250) 457-9624 to get hours of operation.
McAbee Fossil Fields
Xatśūll Heritage Village
Xatśūll Heritage Village
Soda Creek
The Xatśūll First Nation community welcomes you to the national award-winning Xatśūll Heritage Village, located on Fraser River just north of Williams Lake. This unspoiled region is home to a wide array of plants, fish, and wildlife – each perfectly adapted to this unique environment.
Learn about the history of the Secwépemc Nation and their traditional way of life. Learn about the mighty Fraser River where the Secwépemc Peoples have fished for thousands of years, sleep in a teepee, visit the kikule, or experience a traditional sweat ceremony.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Tuckkwiowhum Village First Nations Heritage Site
Tuckkwiowhum | Boston Bar
Tuckkwiowhum Village (pronounced Tuck-we-ohm) is a First Nations heritage site and village located in Nlaka’pamux Territory, south of Boston Bar. Tuckkwiowhum was given its name by Nlaka’pamux People, being known as a “great berry picking place” and still boasts rolling hills and lush forests of wild huckleberries, blueberries, and medicinal plants.
Tuckkwiowhum Village was inspired by a desire to preserve and share the teachings of the Nlaka’pamux people. Guests are offered an opportunity to experience the Nlaka’pamux village lifestyle before the arrival of European culture.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Tuckkwiowhum Heritage Village | Cariboo Chilcotin Coast/Jonny Bierman
Xwisten Experience Tours
Xwisten Experience Tours
Lillooet
Xwisten Experience Tours invites you to visit the Bridge River Fishing Grounds, the past and current fishing area of the St’át’imc People. Learn about the traditional wind-dried method of preserving the salmon still used today.
Tour an archaeological village site containing over 80 identified pit houses (s7ístken), the traditional winter homes of the St’át’imc people.The fish rock tour includes a walking tour along the Xwísten (Bridge River) fishing grounds where the St’at’imc people still fish every summer to gather their salmon for the winter. A demonstration is provided of how the St’at’imc wind dry salmon.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
U’mista Cultural Centre
U’mista Cultural Centre
Alert Bay
The focus of the permanent collection at U’mista Cultural Centre is the Potlatch Collection. The other permanent exhibits on display include description of the traditional ethnobiology of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw and origin stories of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw villages, as well as historical and contemporary Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw objects.
Between 1885 and 1951, the potlatch was banned in Canada. After the ban was lifted, the Kwakwaka’wakw people fought for decades for the return of their sacred regalia. Most of the regalia has come home and it is shown here at the U’mista Cultural Centre and at the Nuyumbalees Museum. See this collection of Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw belongings in-place and with Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw Peoples, and engage for reconciliation and cultural resurgence.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Virtual Tours Can Be Found Here: umistapotlatch.ca
Roy Henry Vickers Gallery
Tofino
Roy Henry Vickers Gallery is Roy Henry Vickers’ artist-owned gallery located in Tofino, British Columbia. This stunning traditional Northwest Coast longhouse has a carved and painted cedar plank exterior and is a recognizable Tofino landmark. Inside, discover Roy’s artwork of paintings, original prints, calendars, art cards, and reproductions hanging on hand-adzed cedar walls among totem poles and carvings.
The gallery is open free to the public all year round. For a live and interactive Indigenous art experience, check for an opportunity to gather around the centre pit in the main hall to listen to stories of Roy’s life and hear what inspires his artwork.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Henry Vickers Gallery | Destination BC/Jordan Dyck
St. Eugene Resort
Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre at St. Eugene Golf Resort Casino
Cranbrook
Nestled in the spectacular Rocky Mountains, the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre at St. Eugene Resort celebrates a unique history within a beautiful and rare setting. The Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre is a place where Ktunaxa people come together to give visitors a taste of their rich heritage, mythology and culture.
Located in the mission building, a former residential school, guests are encouraged to view the many historic artifacts, contemporary art, archival photographs and displays containing examples of traditional stone, bead, hide, wood and cloth work. Learn about the everyday life of the Ktunaxa, and discover their renowned horsemanship and canoe-making.
From team-building exercises to traditional games and craft classes, programs can be customized to fit the group’s needs.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre
Whistler
Feel, look, learn, gather, create, wander, explore, and taste. Welcome to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC) – the heart of authentic Indigenous experience in Whistler.
The SLCC offers hands-on experiences and interpretive tours, with custom tours available for work and school groups. The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and the Lil̓wat7úl Nations invite guests to experience distinctive carved house posts, canoes, spindle whorls, weaving, regalia, bold artwork, and artifacts throughout the museum and galleries. Hear firsthand cultural experiences in the extraordinary building designed to evoke a Squamish Longhouse and Lil’wat Istken – and see the traditional Longhouse and Istken Pithouse.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
Vancouver
The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art offers guided tours to deepen an understanding of the art and life of contemporary Indigenous Northwest Coast Peoples in this significant collection of art and archives related to Bill Reid and his legacy.
The gallery offers specialized tours and educational experiences for ESL students, seniors, and community groups and hosts a dynamic range of events for people of all ages including artist talks, hands-on workshops, storytelling, panel discussions, events.
Visit the website or contact this experience directly for current offerings and hours of operation.
Bill Reid Gallery | Sama Jim Canzian