MakingChangeHappen
Cree Village Ecolodge is a $6 million facility which was opened by MoCreebec Eeyoud July 2000. This world-class Aboriginal ecotourism venture is on Moose Factory Island. It was developed and is owned and operated by the MoCreebec community.
MacLeod Farley & Associates were the project development consultants for this project. The late Chief Randy Kapashesit provided guided the community towards making the project as "green" as possible and encouraged a development approach that reflected the "cultural values and ethic of the Eeyou Nation". The vision of a lodge constructed in the style of a shaapuhtuwaan, (a dwelling structure used as winter lodging for multiple families) emerged through the planning process.
Since opening in 1996, Cree Village Ecolodge project has won numerous awards; including the 2005 Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) Air Canada Business of the Year Award, Top Ten Eco Destination in North America by Natural Home Magazine, appearing in the 2010 book of 'Authentic Ecolodges' by Hitesh Mehta, and since 2013 is has been recognized by National Geographic as one of the top 25 ecolodges in the world.
MacLeod Farley & Associates is very proud of our work over five years to undertake concept development, business planning, financing, and project management (assisting with management of a team of design architects, engineers and contractors) during the construction and launch of this fabulous ecolodge.
An Eco-Friendly Inn
Environmental Design + Construction Magazine
The Cree Village Ecolodge has become a northern Canadian tourist destination for those seeking a unique look at the Cree culture as well as an environmental setting indoors and out.
Cree Village Ecolodge, referred to as Canada's most environmentally friendly inn that is accessible only by water and built at the edge of the sub Arctic, has become a northern Canadian tourist destination. Managed by the MoCreebec Council of the Cree Nation of Moose Factory Island, it offers visitors a rare example of Cree culture.
Inspiration for the project came through a steering committee of the Council spearheaded by Chief Randy Kapashesit, chief of the MoCreebec Council of the Cree Nation. The committee members recognized that to attract tourists to the island, they needed adequate accommodations. Project manager, Rick MacLeod of MacLeod Farley and Associates, who specializes in developing as well as finding provincial and federal funds for northern projects, pointed the committee in the right direction. He suggested that they target their market to the fastest growing tourism segment: the 'ecotourist.' With this in mind, the concept of a completely eco-friendly building reflecting the history and values of the Cree evolved.
