It is our aim to make Aboriginal and Western Canadian more available to
a wider public. Unfortunately, due to the costs of research and development,
it still means that we have to pay for the costs somehow, especially now
that the Government of Alberta has undercut our efforts. To help us make
more of this information available to the public, we are implementing a
program of answering questions of interest and placing them in the Public
Domain, and of accepting sponsorship for posting and maintaining information
of special interest to our readers and researchers.
We will be pleased to send you replies to your inquiries and questions,
or to forward to you information from our files for the price of a
donation to cover the costs of staffing our site and retrieving the
data for you. Replies can be sent to you confidentially by e-mail at
your request, or will be posted on an Frequently Asked Questions page.
NOTE
For those of you not familiar with Aboriginal society, it is a normal
sign of respect when visiting or asking questions of an Elder, teacher,
spiritual leader or respected person to bring a gift. Normally this is
in the form of tobacco. Today it is normally a package of cigarettes
that are offered. This is as a sign of respect for the Elder, and as an
acknowlegement that the questioner is serious. The tobacco is then
consecrated by the Elder to the Great Spirit and is used in a Holy
Manner to offer prayers to the Great Spirit. Smoke from tobacco is said
to be a message to the Great Spirit conveying respect and thank you, and
the tobacco is offered by the Elder to the Great Spirit. The accepting
of tobacco by an Elder is often followed with a ritual question: "What
do you want to know?" Elders tend to think it a gross display of poor
manners and ignorance if this is not done, and will often refuse to
respond. If the learning and questions are not enough value to you to
show minimal respect and manners, it is not worth answering.
Because questions and learning in today's society are no longer
necessarily face-to-face, sending of tobacco can be somewhat cumbersome.
Like in many things, the tobacco has been substituted by money of similar
value, along with a statement requesting that the offering be accepted
in lieu of tobacco. The Elder then uses the money to purchase the tobacco
for the offering. The justification here is (rightly or wrongly) that it
is the intent and action that are the key ingredient, not the tobacco
itself.
Your donations are made through PayPal to insure security and proper
accounting and recordkeeping.
We can also send you more complex and involved information from our
files at our standard rates or provide more
extensive data on request.
We have in the past approached the Governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan
and Canada for sponsorship to develop this site and being more of this
information to the public. We have also approached the Hudson's Bay
Company and the major Oil Companies. We have also approached the National
Museum of Canada, the Provincial Museum of Alberta and the Glenbow Museum,
the Smithsonian and the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre. We have also
approached the Universities of Alberta and Calgary, and the Saskatchewan
Indian Cultural Centre. Quite obviously, promoting Indian history is not
of any interest to any of these organizations. In fact, it would be fair
to say that the main interest in Western Canadian Aboriginal history is
not in Western Canada or among the aboriginal population, but in the
United States and Europe, among descendants of some of the families
associated with the west and - interestingly enough - the Lakota Sioux.
So, to help continue building our site, we have to turn to sponsorship
to our average reader and user - you. With your sponsorship and support
we can put more information on Internet for the Public Domain, such as
placing a "This Day In the Canadian West" file or family history files.
Sponsors names can be posted with information and sections they have
sponsored.
Send your requests to: Heritage Consulting, heritagedatabank@gmail.com"
Your donations are made through PayPal to insure security and proper
accounting and recordkeeping.
How to get more detailed information
It is our aim to make Aboriginal and Western Canadian more available to
a wider public. Unfortunately, due to the costs of research and development,
it still means that we have to pay for the costs somehow, especially now
that the Government of Alberta has undercut our efforts. To help us make
more of this information available to the public, we are implementing a
program of answering questions of interest and placing them in the Public
Domain, and of accepting sponsorship for posting and maintaining information
of special interest to our readers and researchers.
We will be pleased to send you replies to your inquiries and questions,
or to forward to you information from our files for the price of a
donation to cover the costs of staffing our site and retrieving the
data for you. Replies can be sent to you confidentially by e-mail at
your request, or will be posted on an Frequently Asked Questions page.
NOTE
For those of you not familiar with Aboriginal society, it is a normal
sign of respect when visiting or asking questions of an Elder, teacher,
spiritual leader or respected person to bring a gift. Normally this is
in the form of tobacco. Today it is normally a package of cigarettes
that are offered. This is as a sign of respect for the Elder, and as an
acknowlegement that the questioner is serious. The tobacco is then
consecrated by the Elder to the Great Spirit and is used in a Holy
Manner to offer prayers to the Great Spirit. Smoke from tobacco is said
to be a message to the Great Spirit conveying respect and thank you, and
the tobacco is offered by the Elder to the Great Spirit. The accepting
of tobacco by an Elder is often followed with a ritual question: "What
do you want to know?" Elders tend to think it a gross display of poor
manners and ignorance if this is not done, and will often refuse to
respond. If the learning and questions are not enough value to you to
show minimal respect and manners, it is not worth answering.
Because questions and learning in today's society are no longer
necessarily face-to-face, sending of tobacco can be somewhat cumbersome.
Like in many things, the tobacco has been substituted by money of similar
value, along with a statement requesting that the offering be accepted
in lieu of tobacco. The Elder then uses the money to purchase the tobacco
for the offering. The justification here is (rightly or wrongly) that it
is the intent and action that are the key ingredient, not the tobacco
itself.
Your donations are made through PayPal to insure security and proper
accounting and recordkeeping.
We can also send you more complex and involved information from our
files at our standard rates or provide more
