Cultural tourism is the fastest growing sector of the tourism industry. Visitors want more than stunning locations, unique settings and fun activities. The baby boomers, the first of the ‘most educated’ generations, want to know more about the places they are visiting.

One of the best ways to achieve that end is to provide visitors with stories. And what better place is there to hear a story than beside a nice warm fire? How about by a nice arm fire inside a teepee, over a hot howl of bison stew and bannock, with the stories being shared by an esteemed First Nations tribal elder? That is exactly what is being offered at St. Eugene Mission Golf Resort and Casino, located 11km (seven miles) from the City of Cranbrook.

St. Eugene is offering Legends Night, including a detailed tour of the old residential/industrial school by a former student of the school. And the evening concludes with a delicious bison stew and bannock dinner inside a teepee, located adjacent to the hotel. With the orange glow of a small fire keeping the teepee warm, Ktunaxa elder Herman Alpine, seated on a bear skin rug, shares tales of his time at the school, adding to the gripping words shared by tour guide Gord Sebastian. Visitors are treated to the telling of a few of the many Ktunaxa legends.

The Ktunaxa (pronounced ‘k‐too‐nah‐ha’) have resided in the southeastern corner of British Columbia for more than 10,000 years, with traditional territory including parts of Alberta, Montana, Washington and Idaho.

The arrival of white European settlers in the 1800s brought an end to their mostly nomadic lifestyle, which embraced the bounties of the land and teeming waters of the Columbia and Kootenay River valleys, among other locations. Within a few decades of the most intensive white settlement, which followed the gold rush in the Wildhorse Creek area near present‐day Fort Steele, reserves were established.

Today, the Ktunaxa Nation is made up of six bands, including four in B.C. They are the Wood Land
people of the St. Mary’s band, which is where St. Eugene Mission is located; the Two Lakes
people (Akisqnuk) located at Windermere; the Rock is Standing people of the Lower Kootenay
band; and people of the Flying Head located at Tobacco Plains. Two American bands, at Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and Elmo, Montana, round out the Ktunaxa Nation.

Place names remain a key element of the Ktunaxa legends, which tell of their creation. Legends Night offers visitors a rare glimpse into the heart of the Ktunaxa, both their creation and trials and tribulations since the arrival of European settlement.

Visitors learn of the triumph over tragedy aspect of the resort, as it is now a key element of
the Ktunaxa’s economic vitality. Residential schools are now known as severe black marks on Canadian history, as First Nations children throughout Canada were forced into schools in order to, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper noted in a his June 11, 2008 apology to residential school survivors, “kill the Indian in the child.” A not-so-distant legacy of horrible abuses and torn-apart families lingers today.

In 1873, the Oblate Order established a mission at St. Eugene. Mining riches brought attention to the area and in 1910 the Canadian government built the Mission school, around which the resort has been constructed. The school was the first industrial/residential school built in Western Canada. In its 60 years of operation, about 5,000 children from the Ktunaxa Nation, as well as from the Okanagan, Shuswap and Blackfoot nations were instructed by several different Catholic orders.

The school was closed in 1970 and sat empty for more than two decades, after a few attempts to utilize the building failed. Finally, an idea to turn a dark spell of Ktunaxa history into something positive became a reality and St. Eugene Mission Resort opened. The spectacular 18‐hole golf course opened for play in 2000 and the casino opened in 2002. After extensive renovations to the old building and construction of the adjacent ‘casino’ rooms, the hotel opened in January 2003.

Embracing their heritage and working diligently to re‐establish the Ktunaxa language and culture, the Ktunaxa Nation is now a leading player in the region’s tourism industry. And by sharing the stories, of their creation and of their survival through the dark period of residential schools, they have turned tragedy into triumph.

Legends Night guests are led through the now beautiful old hotel, with every room an entirely different experience and layout. Using sharp, dry humor and straight‐on recall of his experiences, Gord
Sebastian shows visitors the former classrooms, the once-packed student dorm rooms, and the quarters of the priests and nuns. With his words echoing in their heads, guests are then led to the teepee to get an even larger sense as to who the first residents of this beautiful area were and are.

It is so much more than just stories beside a fire, told with the warmth one would hope to feel from such a location. The educational value is priceless time spent.

To learn more about Legends Night or the St. Eugene Mission Golf Resort Casino, call 250‐420‐
2000 or visit their website at http://www.steugene.ca.


Printed with permission Rockies Tourism Networker Copyright 2009 ©

St Eugene Mission Golf Resort Casino

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April 18, 2009

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