But do you want to share your culture?

Doug and I have wrapped up our trip to B.C.

We are exploring the possibility of fundraising for the QCCC (left). I took some photos on my phone. They're not great quality but they show the potential of the site, which sits on the banks of the Cowichan River. The QCCC has an excellent business plan in hand, developed by Rod Smith and his colleagues at Festival management inc. (Fmi), for restoring the facilities and redeveloping their cultural programming. There are a number of great, new Aboriginal Cultural Centres in and around B.C. and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics have brought significant funding to B.C attractions. On the other hand it was still a stretch to find something to do in the off-season in and around Nanaimo as I had forgotten my hiking boots and we could not find a sea kayaking place still renting in November. Luckily, it was a beautiful day when we made the initial site visit.

We wanted to answer three key questions before taking a case for support to potential funders.

1) Why will the future of a funded QCCC be different from the past? (A past composed as far as we can tell of scandal, alleged theft and alleged embezzlement, questionable tourist appeal and little use or support from the Cowichan community itself).

2) What is the cultural centre for? The Khowutzun Development Corporation, the "economic development arm fo the Cowichan Tribes" seems to be primarily interested in job creation. But, as we suggested to the GM of the QCCC, if job creation and revenue generation is the most important thing, then why not create the hotel and conference centre and expand the banquet business currently in place? Inter-cultural learning and sharing is superfluous.

3) Whose project is this? (Who generated it? Who will provide oversight throughout? And, who will lead it through to completion?)

We arrived at the last question by way of a conversation with the Aboriginal Studies Department head of the newly formed Vancouver Island University, and through reflection on previous Aboriginal tourism projects. Doug was involved in creating a marketing plan for Six Nations' disparate tourist attractions in Ontario as well as a revitalization of Wanuskewin Heritage Park, out in the Prairies.

The issue of "Aboriginal tourism" is divisive. Even where tribe leaders or band councils decide to move forth with tourism planning and consulting, there has been dissent within the community, members who don't want tourists on the Reservation and certainly don't want to invest in bringing them there or making them feel welcome. Is the community interested in sharing its culture and history with non-Aboriginals? How much of it? What is sacred and cannot or should not be shared? Who will have the right to disseminate this information and in what way? These are questions that can only be answered by the communities themselves. And the answer has to be, yes, we do want to share because...in the case of Wanuskewin, "to increas[e] public awareness, understanding and appreciation of the cultural legacy of the Northern Plains First Nations people."

Do the Cowichan tribes want to share? And if so, why? These questions have to be answered before we can move their project forward.

(Photos: Julia Dow)