Travel and Tourism- Canadian Souvenirs
“Canadian” souvenirs are bought frequently by tourists as they fly into and out of the Vancouver International airport. Many products sold, such as maple syrup or stuffed moose, are advertised as uniquely “Canadian” and often carry images of the Canadian flag on the label or tag. Looking around a gift shop in the airport I discovered that many Canadian souvenirs used First Nations symbols . Tourists who come to Canada unfortunately buy these items and most often don’t know the history or treatment of First Nations by Canadians. These souvenirs are used by the airport as a marketing tool for profit as most of their pieces of art are not made by First Nations people. This exploitive representation is often over looked by tourists since many are unaware of the history of exploitation of First Nations throughout the history of Canada. Often times souvenirs hold memories for people who have travelled to different places making this unrealistic representation of First Nations in Canada all the more problematic.
One souvenir in particular that I found most disturbing in the airport’s gift shop is the “Dream Catcher,” advertised as First Nations art. Taking a closer look at the description of the dream catcher, I noticed that an explanation of its purpose was given without any mention of what it means to First Nations people and no where did it mention what Indigenous nation actually uses a Dream Catcher. Instead, the Dream Catcher is sold and taken for granted to be used for anyone from anywhere without any knowledge of the spiritual importance. The first sentence of the description, for example, reads, “ Dream Catchers are said to be…” No where does it say who said this or where this information came from. However on the bottom of the description there is a name of the company, “Bloom Brothers,” together with the stereotypical Indigenous symbol of three feathers tied together. As I researched further into this name I learned that the name Bloom Brothers is an American company that sells souvenirs all around America and Canada. I found no evidence that they were a First Nations or a Native American company. To a tourist, these feathers associated with the name of the product maker can encourage them to think that the Dream Catcher is an “authentic” piece of First Nations art. This potential misrepresentation is another example of a chain of exploitation of Indigenous people. The Bloom Brothers company does not seem to be associated in any way with First Nations interests, nor does it claim to support First Nations artists. This leaves room for false information and risks further stereotypical branding of First Nations art and culture to people who are traveling to Canada.
On the backside of the description tag on the Dream Catcher, a sentence written in small letters on the bottom of the page reads “Made in China.” These already exploitive souvenirs further takes advantage of cheap labour overseas. Overall, the market of souvenirs targeted at people travelling to Canada can give a very unfair and false representation of the First Nations experience in Canada. By doing this, companies doing business in Canada are literally “selling” a false idea of Canadian nationalism by using unauthentic First Nations art. Overall this kind of practice gives the false impression to tourists that Canada has welcomed and included First Nations and their culture respectively. This is a false and exploitative phenomenon happening at the very place where Vancouver welcomes the world.