Indigenous Peoples Experience at Fort Edmonton Park – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Winner

Photo By Chris Hsiung/Hidden Story

The space comes to life as the lights dim. Immersive moving images play across the walls and tipis, accompanied by Indigenous music and voice. Artwork, stories of creation, and Indigenous history plays out in vivid colours on every surface. It’s unlike any other exhibit this experience was created from the voices and perspectives of local Indigenous contributors.

Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Developers: City of Edmonton; Fort Edmonton Park Management Company
Designers: nFusion, A Nassal Company; Stantec Architecture; John King Creative
Site Size: 7.2 Acres

Photo By Courtney Kleinman/Nassal

Local Indigenous interpreters greet guests and impart their own personal stories and history, adding unique and ever changing depths to the experience for guests of all backgrounds.

The Indigenous Peoples Experience within Fort Edmonton Park is a first-of-its-kind, immersive exhibit developed in collaboration with Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation (MOU) Partners, the Métis Nation of Alberta and the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, alongside Elders and community members, Fort Edmonton Management Company, and the City of Edmonton. This transformative experience is a result of years of partnership, cooperation, and deeper understanding between all parties.

Photo By Christophe Benard Photography

Inside the homestead, guests explore music, religion, family, cooking, and other aspects of Métis life. They might hear a recipe near the stove and pots or a fiddle playing through the gramophone.

Fort Edmonton Park is located along the North Saskatchewan River valley in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and provides guests the opportunity to experience life in four historical periods between 1846 and 1929. The Indigenous Peoples Experience expands beyond these four periods by integrating pre-contact and post-contact stories of Indigenous Peoples with respect and accuracy in a living museum. The exhibit explores the rich cultures of local First Nations and Métis Peoples while encouraging guests to seek out truths lived by Indigenous Peoples before and after Canada’s founding. This opportunity to uplift Indigenous communities comes at a critical time in Canada’s reconciliation with Indigenous people. The Experience features a new 32,000sqft facility containing a walkthrough experience, classrooms, and event space, within a 7-acre site that includes lush native plant discovery trails, animal sculptures, tipi camps, gathering places, arbors, and open-ended opportunities for interpretive programming and events.

Photo By Christophe Benard Photography

As visitors reach the end of the exhibit, they are greeted by a large rotunda with panel like video screens flanked by wooden columns, The Meeting Place. The finale show and its originally composed music blends traditional and contemporary indigenous artists.

The initial concept objective was connecting people to the region’s Indigenous histories and cultures by offering respectful, engaging, and authentic experiences. From the earliest stages of development, engaging with local Indigenous communities and empowering them to tell their story in their own voice was key to the project’s vision and success. This approach side-steps traditional museum narrative and emphasizes first-person quotes to represent the local community and highlight the Indigenous tradition of oral storytelling.

Indigenous Peoples Experience at Fort Edmonton Park – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Winner

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