The Banff Indian Days tourism festivals
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Date
2015
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elservier
Abstract
The Banff Indian Days tourism festivals, which occurred annually
from 1910 to 1972, reinforced temporalized and exoticized images
of local Indigenous peoples and informed the production of
‘‘Indigeneity.’’ While attention is directed to prevailing discourse,
this research is also concerned with how Nakoda participants
responded to this discourse through their participation in local
tourism economies. As well as facilitating a process where
Nakoda peoples returned to important locations within Banff
National Park, the Indian Days offered unique socio-economic,
political and cultural opportunities. Through interpreting the discursive
production of Indigenous identities, it is revealed how some
community members refused colonial structures and defied limiting
definitions of their cultural practices. The festivals are established
as key spaces of exchange that fostered identity-making
possibilities
Description
C.W. Mason / Annals of Tourism Research 53 (2015) 77–95
Keywords
Indigenous peoples; Festivals; Sport; Identity-making; Colonialism; Alberta