Aboriginal Tourism Training

February-March 2004

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
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by David Pinel

North Island College (NIC) is working with First Nations students, communities and advisors on the west, central and north coasts of Vancouver Island to make the region’s Coastal Adventure Tourism (CAT) Program more relevant and accessible to First Nations people. This initiative is supported by the Ministry of Advanced Education’s Aboriginal Special Project Funds as a step toward increasing the participation and success of Aboriginal people within the adventure tourism sector and post-secondary education

The CAT Program has run each January to May since 1997, and is based out of Campbell River. Time is split between the classroom and the field, giving students a strong technical and personal foundation for guiding. Industry-recognized training includes coastal navigation, marine emergency duties, wilderness first aid, boating safety and operation, sea kayaking, canoeing, sailing, power boating, customer service, food safety and VHF radio operation. Equally valuable are the skills in risk management, leadership, trip management, ecological stewardship, coastal ecology and delivering interpretative programs.

Recent developments in the CAT program have included more Aboriginal content in several of the courses. These new learning objectives are designed for both Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal students who, as guides, will work with guests in traditional territories and First Nations communities. CAT field trips and expeditions have an increasing amount of contact with Aboriginal resource people and instructors throughout the North Island. In general, program delivery is being adapted so that Aboriginal students will have more cultural familiarity with what’s learned, how it’s learned, and where it’s learned.

Guiding is about much more than simply operating a boat or paddling a canoe. The CAT program emphasizes training in some of the most employable life skills— teamwork, decision-making, self-assessment, risk management, responsible judgement and respectful communication. Work is available for trained First Nations guides ready to get their feet wet in adventure tourism and wanting to put their personal and cultural signature on how tourism is delivered on the coast. For more info: questions@nic.bc.ca, 250-830-0948, www.nic.bc.ca/tourism.

© David Pinel coordinates and instructs in North Island College’s Coastal Adventure Tourism Program, guides with West Coast Expeditions and consults in tourism planning. He is also Past President of the Georgia Strait Alliance.