Working together

Jasper National Park

Parks Canada is committed to building strong and mutually beneficial working relationships with Indigenous Peoples. Jasper National Park’s Indigenous Relations and Cultural Heritage Office works with diverse Indigenous communities and groups with historical connections to the park and is the corner stone of interaction between Indigenous partners and park management, operations, and projects. Jasper National Park is working with Indigenous partners to strengthen connections with traditionally used lands and waters, respect Indigenous rights, and expand and ensure the presentation and commemoration of Indigenous histories and cultures within the park.

Jasper National Park is open. Please check for up to date information on areas impacted by the 2024 Jasper Wildfire.

 
Indigenous partners and Parks Canada staff talking during an Indigenous Monitoring Working Group meeting
Indigenous partners and Parks Canada staff discussing caribou habitats
Jasper's Indigenous Relations - Timeline. Description follows
Jasper's Indigenous Relations - Timeline
  • 1907 - Park is established
  • 1910 - Indigenous Peoples are removed from the park
  • 2005 - Jasper Indigenous Forum and Indigenous Relations Office are created
  • 2008 - Indigenous Interpretation program is started
  • 2012 - Cultural Use Area is established
  • 2014 - Open Doors policy for park access is created
  • 2015 to 2020 - Multiple Indigenous advisory groups established to provide input into park management
  • Future

Indigenous engagement occurs in Jasper National Park primarily through collaboration with the Jasper Indigenous Forum and the Upper Athabasca Valley Elders Council. Today, more than twenty different Indigenous communities from Alberta and British Columbia—First Nation, non-Status, and Métis peoples—participate in the Jasper Indigenous Forum or the Upper Athabasca Valley Elders Council. Both groups work with Parks Canada to address common interests and work on achieving common goals that support healing and reconnecting to the land.

 
The Jasper Indigenous Forum
Jasper Indigenous Forum Meeting

The Jasper Indigenous Forum brings park staff, managers and representatives of Indigenous groups with connections to the lands now called Jasper National Park, together to work towards returning Indigenous presence and culture to the landscape. Founded in 2005, the Jasper Indigenous Forum is now made up of over 20 Indigenous groups. These Nations and communities, representing six unique linguistic and cultural groups, have a historical connection to Jasper National Park, including First Nation, non-Status, and Métis groups in Alberta and British Columbia. The Jasper Indigenous Forum meets twice a year to discuss topics of mutual interest and has working groups that meet more frequently to work on specific projects or programs within the park.

Jasper Indigenous Forum members helped shape the 2022 Jasper National Park Management Plan. The management plan seeks to:

  1. Facilitate Indigenous reconnection with the lands and waters of Jasper National Park;
  2. Create platforms for Indigenous voices to share their cultures, histories and knowledges;
  3. Increase Indigenous participation initiatives to protect and care for park lands; and
  4. Create opportunities for the involvement of Indigenous partners in park management.
The Upper Athabasca Valley Elders Council
Members of the Upper Athabasca Valley Elders Council in October 2012, from left to right: Ida Pelletier (granddaughter of John Moberly), the late Emil Moberly, and Charlie Delorme.

In the late 1800s, several Métis families were homesteading in the Athabasca Valley. When Jasper National Park was created in 1910, these families were forced to leave their homesteads and the park. The Upper Athabasca Valley Elders Council consists of descendants of the Moberly, Joachim and Findlay families. The Upper Athabasca Valley Elders Council has a special connection with the homestead sites in the park, and are interested in the protection of their historical homestead sites and the telling of their families’ stories in Jasper National Park. The Upper Athabasca Valley Elders Council meets with the park annually to discuss matters of shared interest.

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