Banff’s Indigenous Experiences Map is based on conversations with Elders and traditional knowledge keepers, supplemented by archival research and literature review. It is an exploratory map designed to link the past to the present. For this reason, on the printed edition where space is limited, the name of a location sometimes differs from its official government name.
Ahead you will find a description of each of the 15 sites the first edition highlights, together with the official government names. Be sure to scroll to the disclaimer, references and endnotes.
We welcome your feedback. If you know of sources to consult, or sites to add, please contact us. Our intent is create a living document, continue to learn from knowledge sharers from several Indigenous communities. We hope to capture, in some small way, the Indigenous time that preceded, and the Indigenous time that followed, the arrival of explorers, missionaries and settlers.
Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum
What strikes you about the architecture of this building? Built by Norman Luxton to resemble a defensive palisade characteristic of trading forts, he provided it to showcase the heritage of First Nations of the Northern Plains and Canadian Rockies. Presenting traditional and contemporary exhibitions, it is now run by a society founded by Chief Walking Buffalo, who drew together spiritual leaders from many First Nations and language groups: people of the Buffalo.1 The Society continues his vision to have a centre for peace and education on the banks of the river.
Buffalo-Whyte Pedestrian Bridge
Also named by the Town of Banff officially as the “Nancy Pauw Pedestrian Bridge”. As a spiritual force for sustenance and guidance, the Bow River has long served as a confluence for ideas and nations. Spanning this ancient tributary, the bridge links the Buffalo Nations and Whyte Museums, centers of learning that embrace Banff ’s Indigenous past. Accordingly, we acknowledge the people whose family members navigated these waters and lands, including the: Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda); Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy); Tsuut’ina (Beaver People); Ktunaxa (Kootenay); Secwepemc (Shuswap); Néhiyaw (Cree); and Métis.2
Whyte Museum
Founded in 1968, Catharine Whyte envisioned a centre for art that would encourage community membership, similar to the great museums near her home in New England. Initially named Wa-Che-Yo-Cha-Pa by Walking Buffalo, Catharine understood the phrase to mean “where the good, the wise and the beautiful come together in harmony.”3 Honouring these connections, the museum houses Indigenous artifacts and hosts exhibitions, many about the Stoney Nakoda, whose ancestral homelands encompass Banff.
Stewart Steinhauer Stone Sculptures
An Indigenous artist with Cree, Anishinabe and Mohawk roots, Stewart Steinhauer has many sculptures dotting Banff’s downtown: Sleeping Buffalo in Central Park; Thunderbird and Eagle, at Bear and Lynx Streets; and Mistahiya in front of the Whyte Museum. Recounting his inspiration, Steinhauer says “for uncounted millennia before the beginning of the colonial period, there was a Turtle Island; that is where my creative work springs up from. I work under the direction of the Rock Spirit.”4
Buffalo Skulls
Dating back 6000 years, two buffalo skulls were unearthed during the construction of the Bison Courtyard. The ancient skulls remind us that buffalo are native to this land, having met the spiritual, dietary and material needs of the Stoney Nakoda and other First Nations who lived here for thousands of years. Today, the skulls are displayed inside the Bison Courtyard and Buffalo Nations Museum.
Carter-Ryan Gallery
From the Little Red River Cree Nation, Jason Carter is an Indigenous painter, sculptor, illustrator and public artist with a gallery located in Banff. Bursting with lively colours, his multi-layered and strategic lines are instantly-recognisable fixtures that portray the area’s deep connection to wildlife and landscapes.
Luxton Home Museum
Owned by The Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation, this museum displays Indigenous artifacts collected by Norman and Georgina Luxton, Banff’s prominent tourism pioneers. Through displays of Indigenous beadwork and art, the museum shows relationships between this notable family and local First Nations families during Banff’s early days.
Mt. Norquay Road Lookout
Mt. Norquay is named after Manitoba Premier John Norquay, Métis, Canada’s first Indigenous premier.5 A tall man, he was a powerful canoeist and skilled diplomat. He climbed part way up this mountain in 1886. From the lookout on Mt. Norquay Rd., you can see across the valley to the Holy Springs, described ahead. On the lower slopes, the visible remains of a kiguli are located close to The Juniper Hotel. The Juniper has been a gathering place for Elders from both sides of the mountains for twenty years. It displays significant Indigenous art from across Canada. Nearby is the earliest mine in the Park, where early peoples chipped out chert for stone tools.
Banff Park Museum National Historic Site
The museum houses Indigenous artifacts, including stone tools unearthed near Vermilion Lakes. Dating back more than 10,000 years, these collections demonstrate that First Peoples have lived in the area for millennia. Possible migration routes include ocean travel and/or the ice-free corridor, an expanse of vegetation from Beringia to North America, that attracted sheep and megafauna, followed by hunters and gatherers.6
Bow River Bridge
Overlooking the waters that flow underneath, identical busts of a First Nation’s man adorn the stone and concrete bridge. Cast around 1920 by a Scottish-born stonemason, some people believe the panels depict an imagined First Nation’s Elder, while others consider the likeness to resemble Chief John Hunter, Stoney Nakoda, born in 1874. The sculptures were replaced with replicas when the bridge was refurbished in 1987. The original mould is in the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum; an original casting is in front of the Whyte Museum.
Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain
Also known on the government’s official maps and by Parks Canada as “Tunnel Mountain”. To many First Nations, this mountain is named after the sleeping buffalo that it resembles, and which has guided them for thousands of years. From the east, the people of the buffalo followed the trail to the Holy Springs. When they saw Buffalo Mountain they knew they were one day’s walk away. From the west, as the people of the salmon followed the old trail to the Springs, they understood their journey was nearly complete once the mountain came into view.
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
The renowned educational institution is known for its Indigenous Leadership and Indigenous Arts programs. Several installations honour these connections, including Rebecca Belmore’s Wooden Megaphone, Ayum-ee-aawach Oomama-mowan. The Anishinabe artist designed it as a way for Indigenous Peoples to speak with the land and “hear political protest as poetic action.”7 Additionally, the Mi’kmaq artist, Mike MacDonald, created the Butterfly Garden as “living, breathing artwork” that highlights the insect’s relationship to medicinal plants.8
Kigulis
Described as kekules, housepits, or earth lodges, kigulis are semi-subterranean structures, covered with a vegetated wooden roof, that harness the insulating power of the earth to protect inhabitants from the elements. “Banff was also long a site for a winter village of early Salishan speaking people,” notes Kainai Elder Dr. Leroy Little Bear. “[They]…likely used inter-mountain travel routes to hunt bison, sheep, tend seasonal agricultural plots of plants, and meet others.”9 Dominion Archaeologist Harlan Smith recorded the remains of a significant “housepit village” at the Banff Springs Golf Course in 1913.10 Comprising fourteen structures, these dwelling sites were federally protected until a golf course expansion in 1928 caused their destruction.11
Cave and Basin National Historic Site
Also known as the Holy Springs. Drawn to the medicinal and spiritual properties that flow from its thermal source, First Nations have visited the hot springs for millennia, including Stoney Nakoda members, who drew water from the springs four times per year. Following a pipe ceremony in May 2013, Elder Roland Rollinmud unveiled his multigenerational mural that showcases Stoney Nakoda’s connection with this sacred space. Women, men and youth have communed here for countless generations. Check out the contemporary Indigenous mural boxes located here now.
Vermilion Lakes Archaeological Site
Near the end of Vermilion Lakes Road, archaeologists have unearthed evidence of prehistoric shelters, hearths and stone tools, including leaf-shaped spear points.12 These findings corroborate First Nations’ oral traditions that date their presence back more than thirteen thousand years.
DISCLAIMER
This current, initial version will have mistakes, much like an initial release in the world of software. We are already looking ahead to a second edition of the map, based on further consultations. We actively invite your feedback to help us improve.
The sponsors of the map have not been officially involved in the editing process. Grants did not come with editorial review requirements. The editing process has involved First Nations Elders and knowledge sharers over several years, and yet still omits many important Indigenous sites. On any map there is limited room. There is more than one entry where the name on the printed map differs from an official government name. Here, on this page, we’ve included official government names and other references.
The Indigenous Experiences map is not suitable for emergency response. The Bowstrings Heritage Foundation accepts responsibility for any mistakes and welcomes corrections.
1 About the Museum, Buffalo Nations Museum. Walking Buffalo – World Journey, Film by Initiative of Change International.
2 Stoney Nakoda Nations; Blackfoot Confederacy Tribal Council; Tsuut’ina Nation; Ktunaxa Nation; Secwepemc; Néhiyaw; Métis Nations of Alberta.
3 Skidmore, Colleen, ed. 2006. This Wild Spirit: Women in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. Pp. XXVII. Alberta: University of Alberta Press.
4 Artist Statement, Stewart Steinhauer Stone Sculpture.
5 Friesen, Gerald. 2024. John Norquay: Indigenous Premier, Canadian Statesman. University of Manitoba Press.
6 Landals, Alison J. 2008. The Lake Minnewanka Site: Patterns in Late Pleistocene Use of the Alberta Rocky Mountains. Pp iii. PhD dissertation, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, Alberta.
7 Rebecca Belmore’s Wooden Megaphone: Ayum-ee-aawach Oomama-mowan, Banff Centre.
8 Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly Garden, Banff Centre.
9 Indigenous Peoples, Town of Banff.
10 Smith, Harlan. 1914. Handbook of the Rocky Mountains Park Museum. Ottawa: Department of the Interior, Dominion Parks Branch, Government Printing Bureau.
11 Langemann, E. Gwyn. Archaeology in the Rocky Mountain National Parks: Uncovering an 11,000-Year-Long Story. In A Century of Parks Canada, 1911-2011. Pp. 307. Campbell, C. E., editor. 2011. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
12 Landals, Alison J. 2008. The Lake Minnewanka Site: Patterns in Late Pleistocene Use of the Alberta Rocky Mountains. Pp 42. PhD dissertation, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, Alberta.