Calgary Airport Indians

Leah_Beaver_statue_in_Calgary_Airport

The luggage collection area in most airports is a pretty boring place. It doesn’t seem to be a part of the airport that gets much attention, despite the expensive renovations and art in many Canadian airports these days. Calgary, however, has decided to liven up their luggage area with a few scenes from the Canadian past – like this one, of Leah Beaver who, according to the caption, was a member of the Stoney Nation. She has been immortalized in plastic in the Calgary airport because the father of her daughter provided Mary Schaffer with directions to discover Maligne Lake in Jasper.

There is no additional context given for Leah Beaver’s life, nor for the current lives of Nakoda (Stoney) Nation, nor any discussion of the irony that Samson Beaver must have already known where Maligne Lake was if he was able to make a map for Mary Schaffer. Instead, the display airport_indian_caption – sponsored by Parks Canada – is an ad to get tourists to visit the national parks that surround Calgary.

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