Welcome to My Backyard Tours: Indigenous Tourism in Yellowknife

Welcome to the very first post on the My Backyard Tours blog. I’m grateful you’re here. My name is Samantha, and I’ve lived in Yellowknife for more than twenty years. In my role as Director of Tourism, I support strategic planning, development, and the long-term vision for My Backyard Tours and Lac La Martre Adventures under Tlicho Adventures Ltd. I help create the space, resources, and support so our team can share their stories, their language, and their knowledge with guests from around the world.

My Backyard Tours visited Jake Olson (on the left) with Arctic Duchess Adventures recently.

This blog marks the beginning of something meaningful. It's a place where our team can write from their own perspectives, speak about their experiences on the land, share the importance of language revitalization, highlight our tours and partnerships, and celebrate what makes Tłı̨chǫ lands so special, beyond Yellowknife.

As future posts appear here, you’ll hear directly from the people who guide our guests, welcome them, teach them, and carry the stories that shape My Backyard Tours.

Why Indigenous Voices in Tourism Matter

Across the Northwest Territories and Canada, there’s a growing movement to support and elevate Indigenous-owned tourism. Northwest Territories Tourism highlights a collection of Indigenous NWT tour operators, stories, and packages on their website and the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada is working steadily on positioning Canada to become the global leader in Indigenous Tourism by 2030.

Indigenous tourism creates space for truths that have long gone unheard in Canada. It strengthens partnerships, supports reconciliation, and uplifts culture, language, and lived experiences — including stories connected to residential schools, intergenerational trauma, and the ongoing impacts reflected in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis.

When guests spend time with our team during our Signature City Tour or the Aurora Fireside Tour, they'll hear stories and learn skills from guides whose families have lived on these lands for many generations. They learn from lived experience, from the land itself, and they witness the strength, pride, and knowledge within the communities that continue to shape the future of the North.

On the right, one of our Tour Guides (Jordan), is telling a story to guests around an Aurora Fireside tour.

For us, Indigenous tourism is not simply about sightseeing, it’s about connection, truth, and respect. You are invited and you are welcomed.

The Teachings of the Land

Living in the North teaches you things you won't likely learn anywhere else. The land has its own rhythm, its own stories, and its own way of inviting people to slow down and listen.

Our team often speaks about gonàowoò, the Tłı̨chǫ way of life.

While each of our guides carries different teachings, they all share a common understanding that the land is not something you simply look at—it’s something you build a relationship with, appreciate, and respect. They look forward to sharing that connection with you.

Stacie (second from the left) points to Great Slave Lake while telling stories of her family.

The Heart of Our Tours: Our Team

One of the things we're most proud of is our team. They come to tourism from many different employment backgrounds—everything from trades and hospitality to fire fighting, and heavy equipment work at the diamond mines. They're united by their warmth, generosity, and pride in welcoming guests.

When you join one of our tours, you’re not just a customer, you’re welcomed as a friend.

Our guides share stories handed down through generations, teach words and phrases in their language, point out places full of history and memories, and offer an honest glimpse into life in the North. Guests often tell us that a tour with My Backyard Tours feels less like a tour and more like spending time with local family members who genuinely want you to feel at home.

An Invitation to Join Us

As we begin this new chapter with our blog, I want to invite you into our story and welcome you to visit us.

Whether you're planning your first trip to the Northwest Territories, learning about Canada's North for the first time, or returning because this place has become part of your heart—we’re glad you’re here.

In the coming weeks, our team will begin sharing their own posts: stories from the land, cultural teachings, language, everyday life in the North, and reflections on what it means to welcome guests from around the world.

Masi cho / Thank you very much for being part of this journey with us. We look forward to sharing more with you soon.

Guests and guides capture the Aurora Borealis with the warm glow of a campfire and a cup of tea.