Department: Indigenous Programming & Experience
Position Type: Seasonal
Hourly Rate: $16.50
Contract Start Date: April 2026
Contracts End Date: October 2026
Hours: Varies and includes weekdays, weekends, and statutory holidays
The Invitation:
We invite someone who carries their teachings with care, walks with humility and strength, and is ready to share, listen, and grow alongside community. This role is about weaving Indigenous voices into the fabric of Heritage Park, so that every visitor experiences not only history, but living culture.
Department Overview:
The Indigenous Relations & Programming department supports Heritage Park’s commitment to truth and reconciliation, cultural inclusion, and authentic storytelling. The department develops and delivers Indigenous-led programming, community partnerships, and advisory structures that strengthen Heritage Park’s relationships with Treaty 7 Nations, Métis communities, and urban Indigenous groups. The portfolio integrates Indigenous knowledge, protocols, and perspectives into the Park’s operations, guest experiences, and long-term planning.
The Indigenous Relations & Programming department plays a vital role in advancing Heritage Park’s commitment to truth and reconciliation, cultural inclusion, and authentic storytelling. This department leads the development and delivery of Indigenous-led programming, fosters meaningful community partnerships, and establishes advisory structures that strengthen relationships with Treaty 7 Nations, Métis communities, and urban Indigenous groups.
The portfolio integrates Indigenous knowledge, protocols, and perspectives into all aspects of Heritage Park’s operations, guest experiences, and long-term planning. Heritage Park is dedicated to a parallel lens approach—honouring Indigenous Knowledge systems (teaching, learning, research) and ways of knowing (policy, procedure, and practice) as equal and inseparable from Western Knowledge.
A key commitment includes embracing Oral Storytelling practices, which support both the sharing of existing knowledge and the creation of new understandings. This includes validating transitional stories rooted in ceremonial frameworks and recognizing alignment stories that emerge during ceremonial transitions. These stories will inform and evolve Heritage Park’s smudge protocol, becoming part of the Park’s living truth.
Through this process, Heritage Park defines and shares the lessons learned from new knowledge, contributing to enriched teachings and deeper understanding. This journey is shared collectively, moving through levels of learning within the circle of jurisdiction and spirit.
Who You Are:
Under You may have walked many paths — through ceremony, through community work, through teaching, or through formal study. What matters most is that you:
- Carry your own story and teachings with integrity.
- Have experience working with Indigenous communities and building respectful partnerships.
- Are comfortable guiding conversations about history, culture, and reconciliation.
- Bring creativity, adaptability, and a willingness to learn.
What We Value:
- Relationality: Working together, guided by respect, reciprocity, and responsibility.
- Decolonial practice: Moving beyond institutional checkboxes, centering Indigenous perspectives in decision-making and storytelling.
- Storytelling: Honoring oral traditions and recognizing that stories are teachings, not just entertainment.
- Community connection: Valuing lived experience, cultural knowledge, and relationships as much as formal education.
What You Will Do:
- Carry stories: Share Indigenous knowledge, teachings, and perspectives through programming, interpretation, and events. Know and understand the difference between Oral Narratives and Storytelling.
- Build relationships: Work with COOK Circle, Guest Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, and like-minded community partners to ensure programming is respectful, reciprocal, and rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing.
- Guide learning: Support staff and visitors in understanding Indigenous histories and contemporary realities, fostering dialogue that is relational rather than transactional.
- Hold space: Create opportunities for Indigenous voices to be heard and celebrated, ensuring programming reflects diversity across Nations and communities.
Under the direction of the Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations and Programming , this position is part of a new team creating space and reconciliation action in the day-to-day coordination of interpretive programming. Under the direction of the Indigenous Programming Coordinator and Indigenous Programming Supervisor, this position will interpret Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Îyârhe-Nakoda and Tsuut'ina history and culture as well as lived experience in designated exhibits or outdoor areas, relaying historical information to the public through a variety of interpretive techniques and demonstrations.
Responsibilities:
Interpretation and Visitor Engagement
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Educates & engages the public in the history, cultural traditions, and lifestyles of Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Îyârhe-Nakoda and Tsuut'ina cultures, focusing on lifeways during the late 1800s
- Delivers programs and hands-on activities to engage the public using techniques that include living history demonstrations, stationed interpretation, informal guided tours, role acting, and storytelling
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Position will work in two locations: as part of a team of Interpreters in period-appropriate clothing at the tipi encampment area portraying daily life in the pre-railway era; and in Gasoline Alley Museum, providing interpretation to guests at the temporary Bison Exhibit
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Prepares assigned exhibit/space using provided materials for programming and ensures proper care of associated artifacts
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Operates the assigned exhibit(s) and associated equipment, where applicable, in accordance with safety, security, and cleaning standards
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Provide an exceptional visitor experience through friendly and courteous interactions with guests, staff, and volunteers, using polite greetings, actively acknowledging guests, and handling situations positively
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Create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors with a customer-focused approach, providing courteous and friendly answers to inquiries and valuable information to enhance the overall visitor experience
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Perform other duties as required
Organizational Excellence and Wellbeing
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Contribute to inspiring and immersive experiences at the Park through your roles and responsibilities by engaging in Heritage Park initiatives that align with the overall mission and vision of the Park
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Demonstrate commitment to workplace health and safety by complying with Heritage Park's Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSEMS), following safe work practices, reporting work-related incidents, injuries and hazards, participating in employer training, and adhering policies including the Code of Conduct and the Workplace Violence and Harassment Policy
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Actively support a positive work environment by creating an atmosphere of inclusion, engagement and fulfillment in line with Heritage Park values
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Demonstrate responsible stewardship of our people, collections and financial assets by ensuring that they are handled with integrity, sustainability, and a focus on long-term benefits for the organization and its stakeholders
Required Qualifications:
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Lived experience as part of the any of the Indigenous cultures from Treaty 7: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Îyârhe-Nakoda and Tsuut’ina is required
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Enrollment in or completion of secondary school education; post-secondary education in related areas (Indigenous history, historical interpretation, communications) is an asset; equivalent combination of education and lived/cultural experience will also be considered
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Knowledge of First Nations history, culture, language, traditional activities and/or skills is preferred
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Previous experience in customer service, museum education, or interpretation is preferred
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Experience working with diverse groups of people
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Confident in engaging with large groups of people and has strong public speaking skills
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Flexibility and adaptability to changing situations
- Ability to work independently as well as in a team
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Demonstrated strong interpersonal and communication skills in a client-faced setting
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Physically capable of bending, lifting, and transporting artifacts daily (up to 20lbs)
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All successful candidates (over the age of 18) will be required to go through a Police Information Check as a condition of employment.
Special Clothing and Equipment:
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Appropriate costuming and safety equipment will be provided by Heritage Park; and
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Footwear, as designated by the Heritage Park Costume Department, will be provided by the employee.
Special Working Conditions:
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While working at the tipi encampment area, the position will be exposed to weather extremes as it works in unheated buildings and outdoors for extended periods of time;
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This position is physically demanding, and the incumbent must have the ability to stand for long periods of time and walk throughout the Park for extended periods
Hours of Work:
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Full-time hours are available from mid-May to Labour Day, with weekend work during September and October (until Thanksgiving); part-time hours are also available throughout the season;
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The schedule varies and may include weekdays, weekends, and statutory holidays.
