MOCCASIN TRAILS

Where the Journey Started

If you want to learn about Indigenous culture where do you go? Do you search online? Go to a museum? Take a course? You could do all of these things but we wanted to give people an authentic experience of our culture.

We wanted to bring people from around the world on the ancestral paths our people walked, have them taste the food we ate, sing the songs we sang, hear the stories that were passed down orally from generations ago, and travel down the rivers we canoed. In order to truly learn about our culture we felt the only way was to touch, smell, see, hear, and feel it. Our journey started hundreds of years ago but your journey will start right now with us at Moccasin Trails.

RECONCILIATION

Respectful Relationships

We must learn how to practice reconciliation in our everyday lives – within ourselves, families, communities, governments, places of worship, schools, and our workplace. To do so constructively we must remain committed to work of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.

MOCCASIN TRAILS

The story of
our logo

Moccasin Trails logo
Our company logo represents us walking together side by side on a journey.
The footprints are the marks we leave behind when we walk together on a journey.
We are guides:
  1. We’re guiding you on a walk along the ancestral paths to learn about plants and medicines, learning about the history, learning about the stories, learning about our culture. Visit our Cultural Journeys page.
  2. We’re guiding our Indigenous communities on a path to economic prosperity through strategic planning and business development. Visit our Relationship Building page.
  3. We’re guiding our NON Indigenous communities and corporations on a path to truth and reconciliation.  A path to building authentic genuine meaningful relationships with Indigenous groups.

Our Team

Moccasin Trails is 100% Indigenous Owned and Operated

Frank Antoine
Frank AntoinePartner & Owner

Frank Antoine is from Bonaparte First Nation which is one of the seventeen communities of the Shuswap Nation of the Interior Salish Peoples of Canada. After many years as a golf professional at the Talking Rock Golf Resort, Frank transitioned to the Quaaout Lodge Resort owned by the Little Shuswap Indian Band. Frank built the Indigenous Cultural Department by working in partnership with local Elders, Knowledge keepers and leadership of LSIB. Because of his work Quaaout lodge received the 2018 Indigenous Cultural Tourism Award.

Frank left Quaaout Lodge resort to concentrate on his business, Moccasin Trails Incorporated, where together with Greg Hopf they are continuing to grow their vision on promoting Authentic Indigenous experiences. Moccasin Trails is expanding and developing their culture & business knowledge with other Indigenous entrepreneurs & communities. Frank’s influence in the Indigenous Tourism sector comes in many forms. But his involvement at the board levels – regional, national and international – is where Frank’s strengths lie. He brings the grassroots voice, vision and emotion to these various boards that changes and influences top level executives. His cultural protocol of working together physically and mentally continues the process of protecting and preserving Mother earth’s natural resources for the animals and our future leaders.

Greg Hopf

Award-winning Dene Indigenous tourism leader, entrepreneur, and Indigenous youth advocate, Greg Hopf is passionate about building vibrant and thriving Indigenous communities. Charismatic and insightful, Greg shares powerful stories of Indigenous experience and ways of knowing and inspires you to work towards reconciliation in an authentic and meaningful way.

Born and raised in Denendeh (Northwest Territories), Greg was fortunate to live with in the tiny Dene community of Liidlii Kue (Ft. Simpson) where he learned his Dene culture and value system. Through experiences with his Liidii Kue family out on the land–hunting, trapping, fishing, and harvesting to name a few–he built a strong connection to the land, the animals, and the spirits. Inspired by his upbringing and pride in his Dene culture, Greg’s work is deeply rooted in understanding the opportunities and barriers for Indigenous communities, and telling the rich stories and teachings of those who have come before him.

After completing his post-secondary education in Alberta, Greg took his love for the land into new pursuits, from managing a hunting and fishing lodge in the Northwest Territories to building the Aboriginal Sport Circle for over 10 years. A certified Master Facilitator in Indigenous Cross-Cultural Awareness and facilitator in Indigenous Racism, Greg also garnered the expertise to develop an Indigenous cultural tourism strategy for the Thompson Okanagan region. A passionate leader and expert in cultural affairs and Indigenous tourism, it comes as no surprise that Greg would later lead the successful bid to host the International Indigenous Tourism Conference (IITC) in Kelowna in 2019.

Greg Hopf launched Moccasin Trails, an award-winning Indigenous tourism company. Greg is also the founder of Moccasin Trails Consulting, which is focused on building healthy meaningful partnership building between Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations.  Economic development, tourism development, and guiding Non Indigenous Business and Provincial Governments on their Truth and Reconciliation journey by working with leadership and finding innovative ways of incorporating Truth and Reconciliation into their business model and a part of Dailey duties as a staff member.

Past clients include:

  • Banff Lake Louise Tourism Association
  • Whistler Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre
  • Tourism Edmonton
  • Alberta Provincial Government 

Today Greg takes tremendous pride in passing his culture to his children, while professionally working towards building the capacity and a positive legacy in all Indigenous communities, and educating non-Indigenous peoples in a respectful and authentic way.

Greg Hopf
Greg HopfCEO & Owner