Historically for Indigenous Peoples across Canada, wearing regalia, dancing, singing, and performing cultural ceremonies were banned by the Indian Act until 1951. However, exceptions were made when participating as an ‘attraction’ during certain events and festivals. This can be seen through our collections, namely with Banff Indian Days as well as other notable events in the area such as the Calgary Stampede, Banff Winter Carnival, and Hobbema Indian Days.

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PHOTOGRAPHS

There are many photographs documenting these events and of Indigenous people posed in their regalia - including the Îethka (Stoney Nakoda), Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), Nehiyawak (Cree) and Ktunaxa (Kootenay). These events were a time for Indigenous Nations to come together and this can be seen through photographs of families, children, dancing, singing, and participation in rodeos and other programming held during these events. Many photographs taken from these events have been digitized and can be found through our online database. 

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NEWSCLIPPINGS

There are many other forms of documentation from events like these up to present day celebrations and powwows. Information can be found in sources such as newspaper articles from our newsfile section. To access these look for the Banff Indian Days file or files with titles involving powwows or ceremonies and those that pertain to the Îethka, Siksikaitsitapi, Tsuut’ina and Indigenous Peoples of Alberta. There is also information in our library pertaining to Banff Indian Days located in our infofiles.

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