Our Vision & Work
Ideas in development
Growing a connected future.
Cultivation, housing and water stewardship are parts of one long-term vision: making better use of what the land can offer, with care for what it needs.
These are KPHI’s proposals and aspirations, not approved projects or current operations. Any work at ʔaq̓am would require the appropriate community decisions, land permissions, studies and regulatory approvals.
Hemp & native foods
KPHI hopes to contribute to a proposed 1,000-acre cultivation site at ʔaq̓am, bringing hemp and Ktunaxa native foods into a vision for productive land stewardship. The aim is to explore hemp hearts and hemp oil for food, hurd for hempcrete homes, and fibre for other uses.
Troy writes that Tobacco Plains (ʔakinkumǂasnuqǂiʔit) Chief Ugly Head told David Thompson that when tobacco is planted, one fish goes into the hole with each seed: Ktunaxa knowledge of fish as fertilizer. That knowledge, and the care given to tobacco, inspires our exploration of aquaponics and fish-derived fertilizer. These ideas remain at the planning stage.
Caring for this land is old work. Troy writes that Ktunaxa people used fire to keep the grasslands of the Rocky Mountain Trench open, pasturing horses from the Jennings area to the Columbia Lakes (ʔa·kisq̓nuk).
Homes inspired by mountain living
Our hempcrete housing concepts bring Japanese design influences together with European chalet forms. The aim is a durable, environmentally considerate home that feels at ease in mountain country.
Design work is exploring non-combustible exterior materials and improved fire resilience. Whole-home performance, environmental benefits and code compliance must be demonstrated through engineering and testing; these are design goals, not a claim that a home is fireproof.
Toby Lake & solar energy
The wider vision includes a proposed KPHI cultivation site in the Toby Lake drainage. Existing planning explores aquatic habitat restoration, conservation aquaculture and improved water retention. Any cultivation would need to fit wetland rewetting and restoration goals, not replace them; this is not a proposal to drain the lake.
Solar energy is expected to play a role in the wider vision, including the possibility of offsetting some of the energy needed for water and aquaculture systems. Feasibility and environmental assessment would guide any next steps.
Plants, food, fibre & shelter
Troy sees a natural continuation between ancestral tule and cattail-reed shelters and contemporary hemp building. He also draws inspiration from Indian hemp (dogbane; ʔa·quǂaqpis) fibre traditions.
His display ideas include cedar-root basketry and bowls and spoons made from the inner bark’s cambium layer—ways to share the relationship between plants, food and everyday life.
Troy recalls a Ktunaxa tradition of molded pottery, which KPHI hopes to bring back for its planned café and gift shop. The vision is a proposed hempcrete building inspired by these food, fibre and pottery traditions; details to come.
The proposed café & gift shop: a vision
Troy’s plans for the café and gift shop are still taking shape; details to come. For a taste of the dishes he imagines, see the café & gift shop section on the Food page.
FirstVoices: Indian hemp; FirstVoices: tule shelter. Plant-material connections and display concepts reflect Troy’s account and vision.