For travellers who want to learn, Winnipeg offers many Indigenous cultural landmarks. It’s not where you visit, but the spirit in which you come that’s key.

By Steve Lyons Special to the Star

Toronto Star: Nothing has helped me see the world in a clearer way than actually getting out and seeing it. Learning about the history of a place through its people, cultural traditions and landscape is incredibly enriching, and for me the most profound example of this has been the Indigenous tourism experiences I’ve had.

On a trip to Clayoquot Sound off Vancouver Island, I learned that Canada’s Indigenous Peoples have a deep, reciprocal relationship with the land that emphasizes stewardship and sustainability. During the anti-logging protests of the ’80s and ’90s, the First Nations here were pivotal in saving old-growth forests in their traditional territories.

On Manitoulin Island, I visited the Wiikwemkoong First Nation, where one of the first residential schools in northern Ontario once operated. I learned about the enduring effects of the Indian Act and these schools, which took Indigenous children from their families as part of a systematic attempt to destroy Aboriginal cultures.

While touring the Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatoon, an archaeologically significant site with artifacts from 6,000 years of Northern Plains First Nations history, I gained an understanding of the diversity of Indigenous Peoples. There are hundreds of distinct nations across this country, with unique languages and traditions, governance systems and ways of life.

But perhaps the biggest lessons I’ve learned? How ignorant I was, how much more I need to learn — and how the place where I live, Winnipeg, offers a bounty of opportunities to do just that.

While travellers can participate in Indigenous tourism activities across the country, Winnipeg is particularly rich in them. It’s home to the largest Indigenous population of any Canadian city — First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples number about 102,000, or 13 per cent of the city population.

Winnipeg’s wealth of Indigenous cultural landmarks includes the Forks, a national historic site downtown where Indigenous Peoples have been gathering for some 6,000 years. It’s the site of the Oodena Celebration Circle, an amphitheatre that is popular for traditional ceremonies, and Niizhoziibean, a parcel of land that has a terrific selection of public art, with signage throughout in Cree, Ojibway and Michif.

More Indigenous art can be seen at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, where Métis artist Jaime Black’s REDress Project has brought international attention to the issue of violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit individuals. In addition, Winnipeg is home to Qaumajuq, a museum with the world’s largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art, including an atrium showcase of 5,000 carvings from 32 Northern communities.

The city also offers insight into the Métis at the gravesite of Louis Riel, the Métis leader and political activist who is now recognized as Manitoba’s first premier. And at the Riel House National Historic Site (open seasonally), costumed interpreters explain what life was like for Métis families in the early days of Manitoba.

Indigenous tourism is an important reconciliation opportunity in Canada, and research released this month by the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada indicates that two-thirds of Canadian travellers surveyed are interested in including Indigenous tourism in their future travel.

Perhaps like me, they want to learn more about the culture, history and heritage of Indigenous Peoples. Understanding that I don’t know what I don’t know, and unsure what it is I even should know, I ask a friend for help: Niigaan Sinclair, a professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba. He’s also the author of “Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre” — a bestselling book that just won the Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction.

He assures me that I am on the right track: It’s not necessarily where I visit but the spirit in which I visit that matters most. For Sinclair, it all begins with having a basic curiosity about Indigenous history and culture. “Wanting to know more is the most critical issue,” he says.

Sinclair suggests that the biggest lesson starts with understanding a simple term — treaty — and adds that no visit to Winnipeg is complete without touring the Agowiidiwinan Centre at the Forks. Here, you can learn about treaty histories and the relationships and responsibilities indelibly linked to them.