TAWÂW - WELCOME. There is room.
Jasper Tour COmpany
A Métis owned experience
Tân’si (Cree)
Taanishi (Michif)
Hello!
Welcome to the Asiniwaciya
(Rocky Mountains)
Welcome to Jasper National Park.
the Jasper Tour Company is an experience designed to introduce you to these lands and to our brothers and sisters, the animals that live in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, through "Wahkohtowin".
Wahkohtowin is
a Cree and Michif word that translates to "kinship".
It is a word that speaks to the interconnectedness of everything which is a principle that everyone on Planet Earth used to live by. You might know it better as the "Circle of Life".
For thousands of years, Indigenous people have traversed the Rocky Mountains, creating routes used to trade between the different communities living on either side of the divide. The advent of the Fur Trade saw the birth of the Métis people who continued to do so, with many of them acting as guides to the European traders.
Now, more than 200 years after the first Europeans were shown the way through the Rockies, the Jasper Tour Company, continues to do the same for visitors coming from all over the world. Only this time, those who come from afar have not come to lay claim to the land, rather to reconnect with it.
This is the remembrance of Wâhkôhtowin.
Following in the footsteps of those who came before, the Jasper Tour Company will take you out in search of experiences generally only found on the periphery of most of our daily lives. Memorable experiences that help us reconnect to the natural world. The mountains provide the setting. We provide the guide. But without you, there can be no adventure.
Our Head Guide
Joe Urie
The Rocky Mountains are known to some Indigenous people as the 'Shining Mountains' and the 'Backbone of the World' by others. To Joe Urie, a proud member of the Otipemisiwak Métis Nation, they are simply known as home.
Joe comes from a Métis family who have lived and guided along the Athabasca River for a very long time. The first of his people arrived on its shorelines from the historical heartland of the Métis Homeland, in what is now called Manitoba, during the 1860’s. His connection to the river is so deep that he considers the Athabasca to be the blood in his veins and it is by drawing on this connection that he hopes to help visitors connect with it as well. Joe’s aim is to show every person who adventures out into this place with him that they have a fundamental connection to the land. Consider this an invitation to experience the Asiniwaciya (Rocky Mountains) through his eyes. Consider it your opportunity to reconnect.
“I want people to come away understanding that nature’s not just a place that we visit. It’s where we live.”
“Whether it’s marvelling at the grandeur of the mountains, hearing stories of the Métis or learning to reconnect with the wildlife that roams here, Joe's love and knowledge of this territory, combined with his good nature and a damn good story makes the Jasper Tour Company your number one choice for adventure on any visit to the Canadian Rockies!”
