Last Updated on October 4, 2023
Whether you’re local to Ontario, or visiting from somewhere else, Indigenous tourism experiences in Ontario are a great way to learn first-hand about Indigenous peoples.
Visiting the Teaching Rocks in Petroglyphs Provincial Park, for example, gave me a glimpse into the history of the park, and the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the land. And at the Huronia Museum in Midland, I was able to see what life in the 1500s would have been like!
Through Indigenous experiences like these you can hear Indigenous stories, and learn about Indigenous culture. I have found that on my own travels around Ontario, Indigenous experiences have been memorable and special.
- Indigenous Tourism Ontario: What You Need to Know
- 17 Must-Do Indigenous Tourism Experiences in Ontario
- 1. Canoe Tours with Voyageur Wilderness
- 2. Wikwemikong Tourism on Manitoulin Island
- 3. Wass Tours in Manitoulin Island
- 4. Ojibwe Cultural Foundation on Manitoulin Island
- 5. Mukwa Adventures Guided ATV Tours
- 6. Thrive Tours in Sault Ste. Marie
- 7. Indigenous Walking Tours in Ottawa
- 8. Williams Outfitters in Kawartha Lakes
- 9. Chiefswood Park Six Nations in Brantford
- 10. Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford
- 11. Ojibwe Spirit Horses in Chatham
- 12. Huronia Museum and Huron Ouendat Village in Midland
- 13. Mazinaw Rock in Bon Echo Provincial Park
- 14. Agawa Rock in Superior Provincial Park
- 15. The Teaching Rocks in Petroglyphs Provincial Park
- 16. Cape Croker Park in Georgian Bay
- 17. Mattawa Eco Farm and Discovery Centre in Mattawa
- Final Thoughts: Indigenous Experiences Ontario
Indigenous Tourism Ontario: What You Need to Know
Before diving into some Indigenous tourism experiences, in Ontario lets go over some of the basics!
What is Indigenous tourism?
Indigenous tourism describes any tourism that focuses on Indigenous history, stories, and culture, as well as any tourism that is developed and operated by Indigenous people. This type of tourism has the potential to drive economic development in Indigenous communities, and it provides opportunities for Elders, youth, and community members to share their stories, experiences, and knowledge.
Why are Indigenous experiences in Ontario important?
Indigenous experiences give local Ontarians, visitors from other provinces, and visitors from abroad the opportunity to learn about and experience the history, arts, cultures, and food of First Nations in the region.
17 Must-Do Indigenous Tourism Experiences in Ontario
Read on to learn about 17 Indigenous tourism experiences in Ontario, including Indigenous tour operators, Indigenous museums, and other types of experiences.
The Indigenous experiences are led by First Nations across the province. You can pick one that’s close by you, or make a trip to another region of Ontario!
1. Canoe Tours with Voyageur Wilderness
For over 60 years, Voyageur Wilderness has provided services on Nym Lake in Northern Ontario. They make it simple for you to explore Quetico Provincial Park.
Voyageur Wilderness lives by Traditional Teachings, which are passed from generation to generation, especially the wisdom of their Elders, through song, dance, storytelling, art, traditions and customs.
You can book canoe trips, go to them for outfitting, or book their lodge getaways. All of these services are operated with respect for the planet, and for the local community.
Canoe adventures range from 5 to 9 days long. These packages are all-inclusive, with your canoe and equipment, camping, and/or lodge stays.
2. Wikwemikong Tourism on Manitoulin Island
Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory is the largest First Nations community on Manitoulin Island, the Anishnaabek of the Three Fires Confederacy: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Pottawatomi Peoples.
Wikwemikong Tourism offers various tourism experiences on Manitoulin Island and in the Killarney Region, year-round. All of their tours reflect the culture and traditions of the Anishnaabek people, from fishing to hiking.
While in the area, you can stay at the Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre, a First Nations owned and designed hotel that’s on the northern channel of Lake Huron in Little Current.
3. Wass Tours in Manitoulin Island
Wass Tours runs experiences on Manitoulin Island that make it possible for visitors to experience beautiful scenery while learning local Indigenous culture. You’ll learn from an Indigenous guide about local legends and history, while taking in the beauty of the Canadian Shield and Lacloche Mountains. Plus, you can go for a swim in the crystal clear waters of Georgian Bay!
You’re able to book scenic and historic boat and canoe tours, customized fishing tours, and ice fishing during the winter months. If you like to fish, you’ll have the chance to fish for salmon, rainbow trout, lake trout, walleye, and more.
4. Ojibwe Cultural Foundation on Manitoulin Island
The Ojibwe Cultural Foundation was created in 1974 to preserve and protect the cultural heritage of the Anishinaabe people of Mnidoo Mnising.
The foundation runs a museum, various exhibits, events, and workshop programming. In the Mnidoo Minising Spirit Gallery, you can admire contemporary art by emerging and established Indigenous artists.
Or sign up for a crafts workshop. In the past, Ojibwe Cultural Foundation has offered workshops in making snowshoes, birch bark shakers, pottery, and more. Just check their website to see what workshop is being offered next!
5. Mukwa Adventures Guided ATV Tours
Mukwa Adventures has access to thousands of kilometers of Northern Ontario trails. The best way to explore them? By ATV!
Owner Arthur Trudeau graduated from Sault College’s Natural Environmental Technician Conservation Management program with awards from the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Having grown up in the Northwoods, he combines his scientific knowledge with his First Nations background to share his knowledge of the land with visitors.
This Indigenous owned ATV tour operator runs half-day, full-day, weekend, and custom ATV trips.
6. Thrive Tours in Sault Ste. Marie
Thrive Tours is an award winning, Indigenous-owned and operated outdoor group adventure company. They run Indigenous-guided eco tours as well as educational experiences.
Thrive Tours offers hiking tours, paddling tours, painting workshops, and kayaking tours. There’s also the opportunity to join an Indigenous Powwow. Indigenous guides and guest speakers share Powwow etiquette and also share a taste of their local Indigenous food.
Prefer to get outdoors in Ontario during the winter? Thrive Tours will take you snowshoeing through beautiful winter landscapes. Regardless of the time of year you go, on all Thrive Tours, you’ll get to learn local Indigenous history and practices.
7. Indigenous Walking Tours in Ottawa
To get a sense of how much Indigenous people have contributed to society, join Jamie Morse of Indigenous Walks for a tour of monuments in Ottawa, Ontario.
The tour starts at the Monument of Human Rights on Elgin Street and highlights Indigenous representation in historical developments, including the Monument to Aboriginal Warriors.
8. Williams Outfitters in Kawartha Lakes
If you’d like to learn traditional and modern fishing techniques from an Indigenous-owned and-operated outfitting company, head to the Kawartha Lakes! Williams Outfitters is located on the Curve Lake First Nation.
Owner Michael Williams honours his Ojibwe heritage by teaching and demonstrating Indigenous knowledge. Williams Outfitters offers full and half day guided fishing packages. You’ll go out on the water in their fully loaded tournament Bass Boats, a very comfortable pontoon boat, or in canoes.
Williams Outfitters also offers shore lunches, lake tours, group trips, and mini fishing tournaments. They’re happy to accommodate anglers of any skill level and welcome people of all ages.
9. Chiefswood Park Six Nations in Brantford
Chiefswood Park Six Nations is a department of the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation (SNGRDC). They are a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for the most populated First Nation in Canada.
Six Nations Tourism is dedicated to educating visitors, marketing and promoting small Indigenous businesses, events, sites, and attractions in order to promote economic growth throughout Six Nations of the Grand River.
Open year-round, the park has a boat ramp, playground, canoe and kayak rentals, campgrounds and over a dozen new, super cozy cabins (three of the cabins are pet-friendly, two are accessible).
10. Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford
The Woodland Cultural Centre is where you can learn about the history, art, language, and culture of the Haudenosaunee people of the Eastern Woodlands. At the centre you’ll find two interactive museums, and two art galleries.
The center has five acres of grounds that are also home to an Indigenous library, archives, and Language Resource Centre, as well as the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School historic site.
11. Ojibwe Spirit Horses in Chatham
TJ Stables is a recreational horse stable just outside Chatham. They provide fun and educational introductions to horse back riding, with the goal of promoting lifelong relationships between people and horses.
TJ Stables is also home to rare Ojibwe horses. The Ojibway spirit horse is thought to be the only existing breed of horse developed by Indigenous people in Canada.
It’s a small horse that used to live freely in the boreal forest, and worked as a service animal. By the Indigenous people of Ontario and Minnesota, it is considered a spirit animal.
You can book a three hour long experience at the stables where you’ll get to visit these rare little horses, with a First Nations guide. Listen to the oral stories that were passed down by generations of First Nations People about their bond with Ojibwe horses.
12. Huronia Museum and Huron Ouendat Village in Midland
The Huronia Museum in Midland takes you back in time to the 1500s. You can walk through a recreated Huron and Ouendat Indigenous village where you’ll see a lookout tower, wigwam and a full size longhouse.
The museum is also home to an exhibit featuring tens of thousands of historic artifacts ranging from photographs, native archaeology, art by members of the Group of Seven, and more.
Huronia Museum is a non-profit that offers other programming too, like summer day camps, and film screenings.
13. Mazinaw Rock in Bon Echo Provincial Park
Mazinaw Rock is a massive rock face that shoots 100 meters up above Mazinaw Lake in Bon Echo Provincial Park.
On this rock, you’ll find more than 260 Indigenous pictograms that give you a glimpse into the history of the “painted rock.”
To reach Mazinaw Rock, you can hike one of the many trails of varying length through Bon Echo. Alternatively, you can book a 45-minute boat tour with an interpreter.
14. Agawa Rock in Superior Provincial Park
Agawa Rock is in one of Ontario’s largest provincial parks, Superior Provincial Park. It’s one of Canada’s most visited Indigenous archaeological sites. Its name in Ojibwa is Mazinaubikiniguning, which means “the adorned rock on Agawa Lake.”
The rock can be divided into about a dozen panels where you can see abstract figures like lines and circles, as well as drawings of things like canoes, real animals, as well as mythical animals.
To see the pictographs up close, you’ll need to hike the Agawa Rock Indian Pictographs Trail. This is a 0.5 mile (0.8 km) loop trail that leads to a rock ledge below the cliff along Lake Superior. A metal chain is bolted in to help you manage walking along the ledge.
15. The Teaching Rocks in Petroglyphs Provincial Park
Petroglyphs Provincial Park is home to the largest known concentration of sacred Indigenous rock carvings in Canada. At the teaching Rocks you can see images of turtles, snakes, and birds, while learning about the traditions of the Ojibway (Nishnaabe) and their medicine wheel.
The Natural Heritage Education team at Petroglyphs Provincial Park runs several evening programs during July and August. Each program begins with showing the award winning film “The Teaching Rocks,” at the Visitor Centre theater.
Then, you are led to the sacred Petroglyphs Site, where the park guides tell generational stories about Indigenous culture and various understandings as to why these carvings were made.
16. Cape Croker Park in Georgian Bay
The Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation in Georgian Bay offer camping sites, hiking trails, beaches, and Anishnaabe cultural experience programs.
If you are interested in plants, book one of their tours to learn how Anishinaabek use plants for food, medicine, in ceremony, and in other aspects of daily living.
Or, book a hands-on experience working with plant and animal materials to create an authentic Anishinaabe souvenir. This experience is led under the guidance of storyteller, naturalist, and culture-keeper, Lenore Keeshig.
In all the programs at Cape Croker Park, you will hear Anishinaabemowin, the local language, and even learn a few words!
17. Mattawa Eco Farm and Discovery Centre in Mattawa
At this Northern Ontario micro farm, you can book tours to learn about composting, solar, geodesic dome design, and other types of sustainable agriculture.
Tours are run twice a day, based on the weather, and can be booked through Mattawa Eco Farm and Discovery Centre. There is a two person minimum for the tours.
Final Thoughts: Indigenous Experiences Ontario
Indigenous tourism is a broad area of tourism! It can include booking cultural experiences, or just mean buying handicrafts from an Indigenous artisan while on a road trip. How you engage with Indigenous tourism experiences in Ontario is up to you.
As with travel anywhere, please travel Ontario responsibly. Here are some tips to get you started:
- Learn the main ways to be a responsible tourist.
- Use sustainable tourism tips to travel eco-consciously.
- Travel to places that aren’t facing overtourism to reduce your impact.
- Use second city tourism when you do want to visit more popular places.
- Be aware of cultural appropriation and avoid it.
- Support Indigenous communities when you travel Ontario.
Heading to Toronto? Read 14 Must-Visit Indigenous Businesses in Toronto
Erin has been traveling for over a decade, both solo, and with her partner. She’s now traveled to countries across 6 continents, and has lived in 2 countries abroad. Erin also hosts the travel podcast, Curious Tourism, where she interviews travel industry thought leaders and experts about responsible tourism. Learn more about Erin, and get in touch with her, here.