SASKATOON — Wanuskewin Heritage Park co-executive director Andrew McDonald said they are eagerly awaiting the decision on their application to become Saskatchewan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are hoping for a positive response by 2028.
Wanuskewin, about 17 kilometres north of the city, is hoping to become the 25th UNESCO World Heritage Site in the country and the first from the province. Canada has 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with four of them shared with the United States.
McDonald said the UNESCO application is built on decades of archaeological research conducted at Wanuskewin in partnership with the University of Saskatchewan.
“We're aiming for 2028 for UNESCO World Heritage designation. We have had the advantage of building on a 41-year-old archaeological record. In partnership with the University of Saskatchewan, Wanuskewin has had an active dig site going on for many, many years,” said McDonald.
McDonald said the archaeological work at Wanuskewin represents one of the longest-running archaeological research projects in Canadian history, with the artifacts from the studies now being incorporated into the application process as they work alongside Parks Canada to refine its submission.
“We will have a formal visitation coming out in the summer of 2027. And then in Paris, France, in the summer of 2028, is when the formal adjudication will happen,” said McDonald, who added that Wanuskewin’s UNESCO campaign comes as the park continues to welcome visitors through cultural programming, educational opportunities and community events.
McDonald said partnerships with artists, knowledge keepers and active community organizations are helping create new experiences for guests, as they expand their community programming to share the history and culture of the Northern Plains Indigenous peoples.
“We have opportunities for admission by donation or free admission days. We have the opportunity to work with fantastic artists in our galleries, our special event days, and we will have speakers and programmers and knowledge keepers come in and really keep things dynamic and fresh,” he said.
McDonald added that the park’s programming supports its broader mandate of showcasing the cultures of Northern Plains Indigenous peoples, with every event and activity designed to create opportunities for visitors to learn about the land, history and living traditions connected to Wanuskewin.
For more than 6,400 years, the Wanuskewin valley has served as a gathering place for Indigenous peoples from across the Northern Plains, and McDonald highlighted the significance of the site, noting its history stretches back more than twice as long as the existence of the Egyptian pyramids.
The park welcomes more than 75,000 visitors annually from across Canada and around the world where they can experience Indigenous arts, performances, language programming, archaeology, storytelling, guided walks and opportunities to learn directly from knowledge keepers.
This summer, Wanuskewin is offering daily cultural programming, interpretive walks, traditional dance performances, archaeological tours and hands-on activities for families, and is also continuing initiatives to make access more affordable, including free admission days supported by community partners.
In June, Innovation Credit Union helped provide eight free admission days that welcomed thousands of visitors, while SGI Canada is supporting admission-by-donation programming throughout August, and these partnerships are important in ensuring more people have the opportunity to visit Wanuskewin.
The park also recently launched Kichiota, an Indigenous tourism corridor developed with Beardy’s & Okemasis’ Cree Nation and Whitecap Dakota First Nation, an initiative aimed at creating multi-day cultural tourism experiences and attracting more national and international visitors.
McDonald said achieving UNESCO World Heritage designation would represent more than a milestone for Wanuskewin. Still, it would also recognize the importance of the history and culture of the Indigenous peoples across the plains of Saskatchewan on a global stage.
