ADMS 2320 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Calgary Stampede, Pow Wow, Piikani Nation
30 Apr 2018
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ADMS 2320 Lecture 8 Notes – Creating and Sustaining an Organization’s Culture
Introduction
• Maintaining an organizational culture in the face of interference can be challenging.
• The Calgary Stampede saw several challenges to its inclusive, community-spirited
culture in its early years.
• The first Stampede was held in 1886 and included all members of the local community,
including the five First Nations of Treaty No. 7
• The Tsuu T’ina, Piikani, Stoney, Kainai, and Siksika.
• These bands held powwows and offered cultural displays during the Stampede, and
their onsite “village” was a popular attraction.
• Efforts by the Department of Indian Affairs to suppress Aboriginal culture in 1912 meant
that Aboriginals could not participate in the Stampede.
• Stampede organizers fought back hard, so that Aboriginal people would not be
excluded.
• The organizers fought back again after the 1914 Indian Act made it illegal for Aboriginal
people to participate in fairs and parades.
• The Stampede’s commitment to an inclusive culture has paid off. Some powwow
organizers and participants are fourth-generation volunteers.
• By 2014 the village associated with the powwow doubled in size and featured an exhibit
outlining partnerships between the city, local First Nations, and the Stampede.
• What role does culture play in creating high-performing organizations?
• An organization’s culture does not pop out of thin air, and once established, it rarely
fades away.
• What influences the creation of a culture?
• What reinforces and sustains these forces once they are in place?
• Exhibit 10-3 summarizes how an organization’s culture is established and sustained.
• We describe each part of this process next.
