Wanuskewin Heritage Park

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For the electoral district, see Saskatoon-Wanuskewin.

Wanuskewin Heritage Park is a non-profit internationally-recognized award-winning interpretive centre that reflects First Nations culture, history, and values.

For more than 6,000 years people have gathered at this unique and beautiful place. The nomadic tribes who roamed the Northern Plains came to hunt bison, gather food and herbs, and to find shelter from the winter winds. The full story of Wanuskewin, however, is just beginning to be known. Some of the sites uncovered date back thousands of years, making them older than the Pyramids of Egypt. Wanuskewin is also the site of an arrangement of boulders called a medicine wheel, of which fewer than 100 remain on the northern plains.

Wanuskewin Heritage Park hugs the west bank of the South Saskatchewan River, just three kilometers north of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Within its 240 hectares (about 600 acres) there are 19 sites that represent the active and historical society of Northern Plains Peoples composed of Cree, Assiniboine, Saulteaux, Atsina, Dakota, and Blackfoot. On site there are summer and winter camp sites, bison kill sites, tipi rings, and artifacts such as pottery fragments, plant seeds, projectile points, egg shells and animal bones, all within a compact area.

Wanuskewin Heritage Park officially opened in June 1992, however scientific investigations in the area began in the early 1930s. Today, the University of Saskatchewan manages an intensive archaeological research program at Wanuskewin with active archaeological digs. The Park was designated a Provincial Heritage Property in 1984, the only such site in Saskatchewan featuring prehistoric artifacts. It was named a National Historic Site in 1986. The following year Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a dedication plaque. In 2001 The Prince of Wales was named Pisimwa Kamiwohkitahpamikohk, or, “the sun looks at him in a good way”, by an elder in a ceremony at Wanuskewin.

Further information: Saskatoon Royal Connections

Wanuskewin's mission is to operate, on a sustainable basis, a world-recognized Heritage Park under the leadership and guidance of First Nations people that contributes to increasing public awareness, understanding and appreciation of the cultural legacy of the Northern Plains First Nations people.

During the peak summer season about 40-45 people are employed at the park. Working cooperatively in an imaginative and culturally sensitive manner while serving as

  • major tourist attraction,
  • human resource development agency
  • leading scientific, cultural and educational authority
  • Gathering place for present day spiritual uses such a Sweats, Pipe Ceremonies and more

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