Climbers connect with Indigenous roots by scaling Waterton’s peaks

By Lethbridge Herald on September 19, 2023.

Patrick and Nikki Tanner, along with Jaime Eagle Bear and a group of other Indigenous climbers, have been working at scaling all of Waterton’s mountain peaks, performing a smudge ceremony at each summit. Submitted photo

Delon Shurtz – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

Patrick Tanner admits he was a little scared as he and a few friends struggled to ascend Mount Dungarvan in Waterton Lakes National Park earlier this summer.

The ascent was exhausting in more ways than one as he climbed the 8,419-foot mountain and was forced to rock climb, negotiate around steep walls and keep his balance on slopes of scree, the mass of loose stones that face hikers on many of the mountains in the national park.

Patrick admits he thought about quitting, but the climb was just too important, and not just to him, but to others he hopes will be motivated to climb their own mountains, whatever they may be.

“Inside, I wanted to say, ‘let’s go back,’” Patrick says. “It was a really hard, hard hike, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. But what was keeping me going, keeping us going, was that we’re not doing it for ourselves, but we’re doing it for what’s going on in the community and for the people that are having hardships.”

Mount Dungarvan is only one of 28 mountain peaks in Waterton that Patrick and his wife Nikki have climbed so far. They only have four more to ascend and they will have climbed all 32 peaks in the park. When they reach the top of each mountain, they perform a smudge ceremony, the practice of burning various plants such as sweet grass to cleanse and connect them with their spirit and the Creator, and bless the lives of others.

“We did it for our community, those struggling with grief and loss, addictions; finding their identity,” Nikki says.

Patrick, Nikki and three others – Jaden Good Striker, Ken Javier, Jaime Eagle Bear – began climbing the peaks in the Spring. The number dropped to three after it became too difficult to get everyone together at the same time, but Nikki, Patrick and Eagle Bear have been able to climb most of them together just about every week since May.

At each peak they leave a box containing a bowl, sweet grass, sage, coal, matches and instructions on how to smudge. 

There is also a book of inspiring messages. The only peak they didn’t leave a smudge box was on the popular Bear’s Hump for fear it would be “disrespected,” from some of the many hikers that climb it.

Patrick says they want to encourage more First Nations people to climb the peaks and perform their own smudge ceremony to help them re-connect with their heritage as it has helped him.

“This is also helping me to find myself,” Patrick says. “I used to be very traditional with my dad, and remember smudging with him and stuff like that…and moving away from home I just kind of lost that, and then doing this on the mountains, it’s honouring.”

The first peak the group summited was Bear’s Hump, the easiest and probably most hiked peak in the park. It’s a short but steep climb that offers a view of the townsite directly below. 

Nikki and Tanner had climbed Bear’s Hump many times before, and it was during one of those previous hikes she was inspired to learn more about her heritage and encourage others to do the same.

The couple met a non-Indigenous hiker who taught them that Mount Vimy just across the lake from Bear’s Hump was sacred to the Blackfoot people who used to perform ceremonies on the mountain. As a Kainai member, Nikki said she was ashamed she didn’t know that, or more about her heritage.

“That man planted a seed in our heads, and we made it a goal from that point to hike that mountain,” she says.

They later learned that Waterton has 32 peaks, and that other hikers have climbed them all.

“That  was another seed that was planted in my head.”

The couple began hiking more mountains and discovered at the top pink boxes that had been left by others. The items they found in those boxes were less than inspirational, however, belonging more in a bedroom than on top of a mountain, Nikki says. So they decided to place their own boxes with positive messages on top of the mountain peaks.

One of the messages they’ve left on the peaks is about truth and reconciliation; acknowledging the wrongs of the past, and learning the “true history,” about her people. Waterton, Nikki learned, is part of the traditional Blackfoot territory, and its mountains are considered sacred.

At a time when so many of her people are dying from an opioid crisis, Nikki wants to provide future generations with something positive to look back on.

“A lot of our people are falling victim to this disease, and I don’t want our children’s, children’s, children saying our ancestors used to be in addiction. So we’re doing this in an attempt at breaking that cycle. We want people to know that if you set your mind to something, you can do anything.”

The hikers didn’t know if they could reach 32 peaks, but despite the uncertainty and some negative response from others, they were determined to tackle their fears and forge ahead.

Nikki says she hopes to motivate people, especially those who are struggling with addictions, to find better ways to cope with the challenges in their lives rather than resort to drugs and alcohol.

“This is a healthy way to cope; getting away from the city life and the distractions, and going out to Mother Nature and enjoying the little things, the simple things, and clearing your mind. It helps you improve mentally, emotionally and spiritually.”

The group only has four more summits to reach; Lone Mountain, Kishinena Peak, Mount Richards and Mount Blakiston. At 2,910 metres, Mount Blakiston is the highest point in the park, and will be the last mountain the hikers ascend to achieve their goal.

They want to have a special ceremony and prayer at the top of the mountain in which a few tribal elders can participate, but it would require flying the elders in a helicopter. That could prove a bigger challenge than climbing 32 peaks in one season, but Nikki hopes someone might help make it possible.

“I know it’s going to have a cost to it, so we’re going to have to figure out how to cover those costs.”

The group has posted videos of its ascent of the peaks, which can we viewed on YouTube by searching “smudge box placement hikes.”