Bringing Saskatchewan’s Stories to Light

Home is where our story begins…and the story of our home is one we all want to share!

Whether from a small town or a big city, we all love where we’re from. We also want everyone to know why we love it—by sharing the local stories of our community. Shining a light on where you’re from provides many benefits. 

Here are a few.

Storytelling is a powerful way to create community, and through that engagement, we create social ties and support systems, along with a sense of belonging. Storytelling can also support economic development, providing a human side to the more data-driven material typically in community development initiatives.

Also known as placemaking, the story of your community creates an emotional attachment that’s bigger than a piece of land.

There are plenty of community spotlight examples from big centres, like Bryant Park in New York City or “The Bean” in Chicago. But what about Saskatchewan storytelling? How can we tell Saskatchewan stories to build excitement about our communities?

Let’s explore how we can bring Saskatchewan’s stories to light.

Importance of Community

Placemaking is a form of community development, by turning public spaces into quality places. We once formed communities because we needed each other, and with the rapid pace of change, according to author Thomas L. Friedman, that may be more necessary than ever. Friedman makes the case that healthy communities provide stability for the citizens within them. 

Creating quality public places through storytelling can contribute to people's health, happiness, and well being:

• It naturally cultivates a “sense of place” that attracts people and opportunity. 
• It helps keep local economies strong.
• It makes us better, more compassionate people. 
• It’s better for the next generation. 
• It just creates better places to live. 

Our communities have lots going on, from street fairs to fun runs to winter festivals. Here are some ideas on sharing that local colour, and shining a light on your home’s stories. 

Dakota Dunes Resort

This Saskatchewan success story is no hidden gem - it won the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada’s Business Innovation Award in 2023, and was a Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice recipient in 2022. 

Dakota Dunes offers guests authentic Indigenous experiences while providing the following services and amenities: a casino, golf course, fitness centre, indoor rooftop pool, and hot tub, and more. 

Even more exciting is the way Dakota Dunes is telling its story, by using technology to enhance the experience of those who visit. 

Using memoryKPR, Dakota Dunes tells the story of location on traditional Whitecap Dakota Territory, including the culture, history and language. The story is shared through QR codes placed in every room, and visitors can even listen to traditional languages. There’s also the ability for guests to add their own story to the Dakota Dunes story.  

A digital scavenger hunt provides some fun to get everyone involved while also teaching the culture and history of Whitecap Dakota First Nation. Guests are encouraged to take a picture on their phone of the items on the scavenger hunt in exchange for a small prize. If they create a TikTok video of the pictures, they’re entered in a draw for a larger prize. It’s all found with the hashtag #DakotaDunesResort. 

The Saskatchewanderer

Tourism Saskatchewan uses a unique role in their organization to find and highlight hidden gems in the province. Known as the Saskatchewanderer, this individual travels to every corner of the province and tells the stories of the communities she/he visits.     

Here are a few examples:

1. Creenorth Adventures, located on Flying Dust First Nation, in Treaty 6 Territory in northern Saskatchewan. Here you can experience authentic Cree culture with the Mirasty family, listen and learn from an Elder and connect to the land.
2. A Southwest road trip that included hiking in Grasslands National Park and visiting the T-rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, home of Scotty, the world’s largest tyrannosaurus rex.
3. Fun dining adventures like The Golden Grain Bakery in Melfort—home to a bakery for more than 100 years—and Harvest Eatery in Shaunavon, which calls itself a “gourmet comfort restaurant” with a focus on Saskatchewan ingredients.

By sharing these stories on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, the Saskatchewanderer generates excitement for Saskatchewan storytelling. Adding a tool like memoryKPR makes it even easier to tell these community stories. This intuitive platform invites members to contribute their experiences—photos, videos, audio recordings, and personal experiences, and more. 

Bring Your Community’s Story to Light

There are plenty more quirky Saskatchewan stories out there, like the farmer who welded nearly 100 bicycles on top of a fence or the famous outhouse called the Carlson Crapper, that is “fittingly located on Highway No. 2.”

The key is to shine a light on those communities through storytelling. Whether it’s a famous outhouse or an ancient historical site complete with dinosaur bones, telling your story will intrigue visitors and residents alike.  

A tool like memoryKPR will allow you to capture the whole story of a place, community or business. You don’t need an account with a social media platform, but you can still connect to social media when you want it. 

There’s more:

• use QR codes to easily share and gather user-generated content 
• import content from social media and cloud platforms
• integrate your stories into your own website or app 
• add hashtagged social media moments directly into your story
• white label your story to add your own logo
• collect donations for a project
• build a searchable database with the content management system

If you need help, reach out to memoryKPR. We can help you build your story engagement strategy to share your hidden gems and tell the meaningful stories in your community. 

Ready to see how easy (and powerful) it can be? Explore memoryKPR today. Your stories—and your community—deserve a vibrant future.