The Saamis Tepee is a landmark and gathering place. The tepee overlooks the Saamis Archaeological Site, a Provincial Historic Site, located in the valley of Seven Persons Creek in Medicine Hat. Encompassing an area of 36 hectares, this site has been interpreted as a winter and early spring campsite between 1390 and 1820 A.D. For thousands of years, First Nation groups traveled to the vicinity of Medicine Hat during their seasonal round of activities to take advantage of the rich resources. This included large suitable camps for processing bison meat and were rich with water, shelter and a diversity of smaller animals and plants. 

In 1991, Saamis Tepee, received blessing of the Blood tribe. 600 Indigenous people signed a letter supporting the Saamis Tepee project. Within the circle of the Tepee, ten illustrated storyboards are visible. These boards were all hand-painted and represent a variety of influences and history of First Nations heritage.

Today, the site continues to support ceremony, dance, storytelling, and community gathering. It is both a cultural space and a place of tourism, making it important that improvements respect Indigenous traditions while enhancing accessibility and use.

Originally constructed for the 1988 Winter Olympics, the tepee was moved to Medicine Hat in 1991. If you're interested in learning more about the history, check out these archival documents:

Who is involved

This project is a partnership between:

• Miywasin Friendship Centre
• City of Medicine Hat

It also includes:

• Indigenous Elders and cultural leaders
• Indigenous dancers and community members
• Representatives from the Saamis Archaeological Site and Tourism Medicine Hat
• Scout Engineering (Indigenous-led design consultants)

Community involvement has been central throughout, with over 70 participants engaged at the initial gathering and continued participation across all stages of the project.

The Miywasin Friendship Centre is a non-profit Aboriginal organization that targets the needs of the Aboriginal community in the Medicine Hat area and develops and maintains services to meet those needs. Miywasin offers a variety of programs to the community at large, including Elder’s and Youth programming, Aboriginal Parenting and Education programs, Cultural events, Housing and Counseling supports. Indigenous cultural activities and ceremony are woven into all of Miywasin Friendship Centre's programs.

Project goals

👍Creating a resurfacing plan that is accepted by the Indigenous community who use this space and is culturally appropriate

🌅Timing of resurfacing is coordinated with Indigenous programming

💡Understanding what else can be done in the future with this space to make it more usable for the Indigenous community. Some ideas already brought up:

⛱Seating and shade to help facilitate current activities on site

👀Walking path out to Saamis Archeological site and potential look out

👉Signage to other Indigenous sites (e.g., 100kms to...)

🚗Adequate parking for activities occurring

🤾‍♂️Natural playground (or other infrastructure for families to do when there)

🚾Washroom access

1. Indigenous led, for Indigenous people, by Indigenous people
2. Ensure diversity and inclusion
3. Indigenous engineers to come along in the process
4. Work in a co-design and Indigenous way
5. Dancefloor must “feel good” dancing with moccasins
6. Could merge artificial and natural