Alberta girl launching tourism app that reconnects Indigenous peoples to land

A new tourism app aims to help indigenous communities reconnect with the land.

Hailing from Kainai First Nation and Southern Piikani First Nation, Souta Calling Last runs a nonprofit educational organization called Indigenous vision.

For the past four years at Indigenous Vision, Calling Last has developed an interactive tourism app that shares the locations of historic Blackfoot country locations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Montana, and Wyoming.

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The new app includes historical sites like the tipi rings in Crowsnest Pass and mEdicine Wheels in Alberta and Wyoming.

“I may have found sites that have never been found before,” said Calling Last.

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Calling Last said she received a couple of calls from people reporting they have an interesting Blackfoot landmark on their property that has never been discovered before.

“We got some of those calls, which is really great,” she said.

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Calling Last says it is in your best interest to keep these websites safe.

When Calling Last finds new web sites, it says it looks for “Napi images”.

Napi is often portrayed as a deceiver, troublemaker, and foolish being, but he is also considered a well-intentioned demigod responsible for shaping the world the Blackfoot live in and would often help people or teach them important knowledge.

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The medicine wheels in Alberta and Wyoming are examples of Napi images.

“It’s really cool to see how far the story goes,” said Calling Last. “A newly discovered website is really exciting.”

To find the locations, she spends hours searching online locations using two satellites.

“Sometimes it takes a week and some sites just show up the first time.”

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Calling Last describes new discoveries as “really exciting,” but says that not all historical landmarks will be made available to the public.

“Some websites may not have protection, so I would only share it with tribal leaders, cultural guardians, and for academic purposes.”

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Calling Last says only 10 percent of traditional Blackfoot territory is covered with maps.

“I need to have 112 websites and those websites are about 500 websites just for Blackfoot,” she said.

Calling Last hopes to add music by indigenous artists, an audio travel guide, and push notifications to the app in the future to alert drivers to nearby attractions.

“Essentially, we take our ancestral data and use it to adapt it to today’s life and world,” she explained.

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Rachel Snow, a legal advisor from Morley, Alta, says it is important to name the landmarks with their original indigenous names.

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“It shows the connection to the country.”

According to Snow, the Indigenous Vision app can help indigenous people reconnect with their culture and land. She also stated that people who know her story already know these places.

Calling Last describes the app as a tool that municipalities can use to determine their own land developments.

Another goal that Calling Last aims to achieve is to ensure that all indigenous youth know “how strong we are”.

“If you see my map and find yourself in these orange-colored dots, you are firmly in our home.”

Calling Last is expected to launch the app this year.

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