Recognizing Yukon First Nations

Commercial guiding is, in many ways, a resource extraction industry. We access the Traditional Territories of Indigenous Peoples and extract tourism value from the Land. Too often, this happens without meaningful involvement from the First Nations and communities who have stewarded these places for generations. In the Yukon, wilderness tourism operators are not currently required to consult or engage with First Nations when operating on non-settlement Land. Park regulations are inconsistent, and permitting systems do not always include mechanisms for Indigenous oversight or benefit. Respecting Indigenous rights and relationships to Land must be central to how we operate in the backcountry.

In the spirit of collaboration and responsibility, we commit to the following three principles.

•Consent•

We commit to engaging with each First Nation before operating on their Traditional Territory. We will endeavour to connect with each First Nation throughout the year with updates on our proposed trip itineraries, routes and expedition logistics. We will also provide each Nation with an operational report at the end of our guiding season (October) outlining the season’s expeditions, group compositions, wildlife observations and environmental impact tracking.

If there are any concerns or objections, each Nation will be able to contact us and we will do our best to immediately redress any concerns and implement solutions, including, if necessary, a pause on operations.

•Non-Compete & Collaboration•

We commit to doing our best not to compete with any Yukon First Nation guiding companies and will endeavour to share trip logistics and adjust trip itineraries if asked by any local First Nation businesses. We also commit to working towards integrating First Nation guides and interpreters into our expedition trips. As much as possible, we will work with First Nation interpreters to provide our expedition participants with an overview of Yukon First Nations and ensure everyone follows respectful Land travel protocols.

•Profit Sharing•

We commit to working towards making meaningful financial contributions to the First Nation communities whose lands we access by donating 5% of gross profits every year to a Yukon Indigenous-controlled organization. As our company grows, we will continue to reassess our donation model to ensure our donations are meaningful and appropriate. We also commit to being transparent with who and how much we are donating on our website.