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Dog sled running with the backdrop of the Aurora Borealis, tanning moose hide, stitching moccasins and fishing in the clear waters of Cli Lake. These are some of the aboriginal cultural attractions a new council is hoping to market to bolster tourism to the Northwest Territories.

Doug Lamalice, seen here in 2009, is a guide for 'Walk a Mile in My Moccasins' and is currently on the territorial Aboriginal Tourism Champions Advisory Council. - NNSL file photo

Residents from communities across the NWT have been appointed by Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Bob McLeod to the Aboriginal Tourism Champions council, formed as an advisory group to promote aboriginal tourism products.

Apart from NWT Tourism representatives, members of the council are all aboriginal, including Gwich'in, Inuvialuit, South Slavey, North Slavey, Mountain Dene, Tlicho, and Metis, and were selected based on their experience in the tourism industry.

"We wanted representation from each of the regions, diversity, and experience with different tourism products," McLeod said.

Doug Lamalice, of Hay River, is the owner of Walk in My Moccasins cultural tours and is a member of the council.

"It's hard to focus on tourism when you’re just an operator," said Lamalice, whose interpretive tours take visitors between the Alexander and Louise Falls.

"Tourism can't really work unless you do it right. So to me, a board is 100 per cent what we need."

Lamalice said he wants to see more on-the-land cultural tourism that puts the community members to work, especially the elders, who can provide historical insight and practical instruction on making smoked fish, sewing and other traditional activities.

"I like the tourism industry because we stay on top of the ground," Lamalice said. "Just displaying and presenting our cultures we can have businesses and run them. We don't have to dig or anything."

Other council members include Tsiigehtchic artisan Margaret Nazon; Judith Wright-Bird, owner of Tulita's Drum Lake Lodge; Grant Beck, owner of Beck's Kennels; Moise Rabseca, owner of Behchoko's hospitality, guiding, and big game outfitting service Rabesca's Resources; and owner of North Nahanni Naturalist Lodge, Ria Letcher of Fort Simpson.

The main role of the council will be to produce a three- to five-year aboriginal tourism strategy, based on market demand research and product development opportunities throughout the NWT as a resource for aboriginal business owners and those interested in aboriginal tourism.

"We think that this is an important initiative for the NWT because potentially we can have aboriginal tourism products in every one of our 33 communities," McLeod said. "Aside from creating sustainable employment it will help us celebrate aboriginal culture and we've seen in other jurisdictions how that increases pride in aboriginal heritage in youth and supports the traditions of aboriginal groups."

The department realized the potential of marketing aboriginal culture during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where Northern House, which was themed on the way of life in the North, proved to be a big draw, McLeod said.

"(Northern House) made us realize there is a lot of demand for tourism to the North and particularly aboriginal tourism," he said. "People come to visit the North wanting to do some of these things and we realized we didn't have a lot of tourism product in a large part of the territory. So this is an initiative that has come about. We feel the advisory council will play an important role in our plan to grow the tourism sector in the NWT."

Council members who are not compensated by another organization will receive an honorarium and travel costs for their involvement.

The council initiative is a part of the GNWT's five-year plan called "Tourism 2015: New Directions for a Spectacular Future," which aims to increase the value of the NWT tourism industry, valued at $111 million in 2010, to $130 million by 2015-2016.

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