Daily BrewNorthern Manitoba fishing lodge warns U.S. tourists not to give alcohol to Cree guides
A northern Manitoba hunting lodge found itself in the line of fire this week after releasing a trip planning guide warning visitors not to feed aboriginal employees alcohol.
The Laurier River Lodge made the comments in a document titled the "2014 American Plan Trip Planner," which includes about 35 pages of travel and visitation advice for American tourists to the fishing and hunting destination. Under the heading, "What you can expect from us," the document claims their Cree Indian guides are wonderful people but "have a basic intolerance for alcohol."
We take great care when hiring our staff; however the subject of Native Guides must be touched upon. We use Cree Indian guides from the town of Pukatawagon in northern Manitoba. They are wonderful people and fun to fish with however, like all Native North Americans, they have a basic intolerance for alcohol. Please do not give my guides alcohol under any circumstances. This is rarely a problem and by telling you in advance I hope to avoid it altogether.
The guide went on to warn visitors about the dangers of getting too close to wildlife.
It's not clear how long the document has been posted online. However, the passage became the subject of online outrage on Wednesday, with many people flooding to the Lodge's Facebook page.
"Wow. Disgusting...it speaks volumes of your own 'intolerance' to basic intelligence," wrote one user.
"White, ignorant, red neck North Americans have a basic intolerance to thinking for themselves, so please don't engage them in any activities that require anything more than fishing poles and shot guns, under any circumstances, or else the rest of the world will have to read this kind of shite on the internet," another user wrote.
On Wednesday, Mathias Colomb Cree Nation Chief Arlen Dumas released a letter to lodge owners Brent and Erin Fleck, calling the passage offensive and racist, and demanding an apology.
"None of the above statements or implications about our people are true." Dumas wrote, according to the Winnipeg Free Press. "The comments are racist and negative stereotypes which only serve to promote or incite hatred against our people. There is no scientific basis for your claim that Cree people have an intolerance for alcohol, nor is there any basis for alleging that our Cree people would drink while working or that the pose a risk to the public."
Dumas further noted that the lodge was located on land and waters owned by the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation. "Your business is not only located within our traditional territory, but is also located on my grandfather's trapline," he wrote.
Native rights activist Pam Palmater addressed the travel guide on her popular blog, Indigenous Nationhood, and said the passage could be grounds for a human rights complaint.
If morals could not guide these business owners, certainly they have an obligation to follow the law. It is no wonder why discrimination against Indigenous peoples has not subsided, given openly racist attitudes like this.
One would have thought the days of warning people against animals and Indians were over.
It’s horrific to think such comments and opinions could be written down and presented as direct truths, even seemingly addressing in warm tones the same people it spites.
Casual racism is one thing, purportedly "helpful" racism is another thing entirely. Come to northern Manitoba, American tourists. Just don't feed the locals.
