SGI invests $31,000 into Wanuskewin in first-of-its-kind deal

A brand new partnership between SGI Canada and Wanuskewin Heritage Park will see free admission on Sundays during the month of August.

A $31,000 investment over 2024 and 2025 will help Wanuskewin promote the free admission as well as help advance the educational programs the park provides.

The bison herd at Wanuskewin. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

Andrew McDonald, Wanuskewin’s director of marketing and communications, said the investment will allow the park to continue its various programs.

“That means performing arts, visual arts and culinary arts,” said McDonald.  “All of those things under Wanuskewin’s umbrella, it allows us to continue to do that.”

Located a few kilometres north of Saskatoon, Wanuskewin offers daily drop-in programs, and McDonald said those programs will also benefit from the new funding.

“It could be a guided tour (where) one of our interpreted guides would take you on the trails and teach you about the plants and the animals there in the valley,” said McDonald. “We also have a drop-in program that happens every day that’s a dance presentation.”

McDonald said the two groups have been working on this deal for a couple years now.

“This began in September of 2022 when we were able to welcome SGI here for a special event,” said McDonald. “I remember being here that night and being so energized by the looks on people’s faces and the questions that were being asked.”

Wanuskewin Heritage Park. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

The thought of making the park be available to everyone for free has been something that Wanuskewin has been floating for years now.

McDonald said SGI really took the project to heart.

“(They) really caught the vision of where we are going in Unesco designation and this becoming a world heritage site,” said McDonald. “They want to make this available to everybody.”

Wanuskewin has never had a partnership like this before, and McDonald said he hopes the free admission on Sundays will really entice people to come down and check out the park.

Read More:

• ‘Everything is here now’: Wanuskewin elder reflects on bison baby boom
• Mosaic Company gives $500K to Wanuskewin’s UNESCO World Heritage bid
• New partnership to help bring artifacts back to Wanuskewin

The current partnership is a one-year deal, but SGI isn’t ruling out an extension.

Andrew Voroney, chief operating officer for SGI Canada, said it’s important for the organization to support the community.

“Our customers are here, our community members are here,” said Voroney. “Our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation externally and internally, I think, is really important just to demonstrate.”

Voroney said it’s important for SGI to respect the people they serve and the land they share.