indigenouspeoples Archives - Solimar International

Man from the Lacandon Indigenous community in the Maya Lacanjá Chansayab ecotourism area in Mexico.

Importance of Indigenous Involvement in Tourism Development

Written by Maria Fernanda de la Selva Hernandez on October 25, 2023. Posted in Blog.

Two women standing in front of a market stall that sells traditional crafts in Oaxaca, Mexico, showcasing a basic form of indigenous involvement in tourism development programs. However, most of these products are not authentic and are sold as a response to uninformed tourist demand.

Indigenous involvement in tourism development is crucial

Picture this: cultural education and interpretation that breathe life into traditions, a vibrant marketplace brimming with authentic cultural treasures, the rallying cry of policy advocacy and representation, and the gentle footprints of ecotourism echoing through ancestral lands. Indigenous communities showcase some of the world’s richest and uniquely diverse cultures, a stark departure from the Eurocentric norms many people are accustomed to. This captivating contrast is driving the surge in cultural tourism, propelling it as one of the fastest-growing segments in the industry. Within this realm, travelers seek encounters with gastronomy, heritage, religious sites, craftsmanship, and festivals, all offering a captivating lens through which to view the world.

Similarly, according to a report by the TICAA Consortium, Indigenous communities around the world conserve around 22% of the biodiversity of the Earth and around 21% of the global land. This represents a more significant percentage than the land and biodiversity conserved by States, including federal lands and national parks. Several scholars agree that the traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples is valuable for land and resource conservation. Thus, their involvement in development programs, including tourism development programs, is essential.

Tourism can stimulate economies, promote infrastructure development, and protect natural and cultural resources. However, it’s crucial to recognize its impact on Indigenous communities and the need for cultural connection. The reckless commodification of cultural assets alienates Indigenous communities, perpetuates cultural exploitation, and endangers biodiversity. Indigenous Involvement in the decision-making processes of tourism development and policy formulation is essential to ensure that the magic of cultural tourism benefits everyone involved, preserving authenticity and fostering mutual understanding.

Exploring Indigenous and cultural tourism

Indigenous tourism, a form of cultural exchange celebrating Indigenous cultures, relies on the active involvement of Indigenous communities. This involves cultural tours, homestays, art exhibitions, storytelling, and traditional activities. Examples of these include the Canadian coastal adventures curated by Abegweit Mi’kmaq Nation, the hiking tourism trail led by the Raramuris in Mexico, and the Daintree Rainforest experiences organized and executed by Kuku Yalanji people of Australia. When done correctly, Indigenous tourism goes beyond low-skill labor and contributes to the well-being and empowerment of Indigenous peoples.

However, an example of how easily governments can exploit cultural assets without actively involving Indigenous Peoples is the use of prehispanic cultural heritage in the Maya area of Mexico where the federal government has approved the construction of several infrastructure projects such as Xcaret, offering the ancient Maya culture as an attraction (essentially, cultural appropriation), and where contemporary Maya people are usually only employed as low-skill labor. By reevaluating actions, utilizing international legal frameworks, and stepping back from a critical perspective, significant improvements can be made.

A representation of an ancient Maya ritual in the Xcaret Park that shows the involvement of indigenous people in the tourism program but can also be considered cultural appropriation. — The Maya ritual in Xcaret Park showcases indigenous participation in tourism, but may also be seen as cultural appropriation. Photo by Beth and Anth from Flickr.

Stages of involvement of Indigenous people in Tourism

For centuries, Indigenous communities have been participating in tourism. Initially, visitors commodified them for pleasure, but as awareness grew, they began exhibiting their artifacts and traditions. This phase led to the realization that preserving culture was crucial, but actions toward preservation often happened outside the communities. Today, Indigenous communities actively engage in tourism, sharing their culture and traditions with visitors, asserting control over their cultural and natural resources, and taking the reins of their own narratives.

International law, such as the International Labor Organization Convention No. 169 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, recognizes and protects the rights of Indigenous peoples, including self-determination, cultural preservation, and involvement in land and resource decisions. These frameworks promote equality, justice, and respect for diverse cultures, and they have been the starting point of the involvement of Indigenous People in tourism development programs as agents rather than as elements of observation. In practice, challenges and conflicts may arise when balancing economic development with the rights and well-being of indigenous communities. Tourism development requires collaboration between governments, businesses, and civil society organizations to respect indigenous communities’ rights and ensure meaningful benefits.

Man from the Lacandon Indigenous community of the Maya Lacanjá Chansayab ecotourism area in Chiapas, Mexico. — A man from the Lacandon Indigenous community in the Maya Lacanjá Chansayab ecotourism area in Mexico.

Why Indigenous involvement in tourism development holds significance

We can acknowledge Indigenous communities’ autonomy by empowering them economically, socially, politically, and psychologically while recognizing their historical oppression. Thoughtfully planned and community-led tourism development can help achieve this change:

Economic empowerment: Tourism, including guided tours, homestays, artisan crafts, and local food, can provide Indigenous populations with a sustainable revenue source. It can also diversify sources of income, minimize reliance on a particular business, and generate employment opportunities within the community

Social empowerment: Tourism can help keep Indigenous customs and cultures alive. Communities are inspired to uphold their cultural heritage when tourists actively engage with them. Similarly, as Indigenous communities collaborate to promote their culture and oversee tourism-related activities, tourism can help them feel more united.

Political empowerment: Indigenous groups have greater influence in discussions on land rights and tourism development, given their rights to their ancestral lands and resources. This ensures federal governments consider their opinions in the policy-making processes.

Psychological empowerment: As Indigenous tribes share and are recognized for their distinctive traditions, tourism can increase cultural pride within those communities. When communities take control of their tourism projects, their sense of identity, purpose, value, and self-esteem can be strengthened.

This empowerment is also linked to the conservation of cultural and natural resources. Indigenous tourism serves as a means to preserve and revitalize cultures by providing a platform for the transmission of traditional knowledge and practices to future generations. This can foster cross-cultural understanding, environmental stewardship, and the promotion of responsible tourism.

UNWTO Recommendations

Several means can achieve these measures, but the United Nations World Tourism Organization offers recommendations that should be considered:

Respect for the cultural values and the cultural capital of Indigenous groups.
Transparent and permanent consultation with the Indigenous communities.
Equitable partnerships that ensure the protection and conservation of their natural and cultural resources, as well as their intellectual property.
Protection of these groups to ensure the evitability of the adverse outcomes of any tourism development plan.
Design of Indigenous tourism products in collaboration with Indigenous communities.
Distribution of benefits to the Indigenous communities.

The active involvement of indigenous peoples in tourism development not only enriches the visitor experience but also serves as a powerful means to showcase their abundant cultural heritage and profound wisdom.

Local woman, with a colorful skirt, dancing with a basket on her head during the Guelaguetza celebrations in Oaxaca, Mexico, a festival that is known to showcase indigenous traditions and attracts a considerable amount of tourism flow. — A woman in Oaxaca, Mexico, participates in the Guelaguetza celebrations, a festival showcasing indigenous traditions and attracting significant tourism.

Indigenous knowledge: a path to a brighter, inclusive future

Indigenous communities, through their traditional ecological knowledge, can also play a crucial role in environmental conservation. Integrating indigenous perspectives into tourism planning can balance economic development with environmental preservation, prioritizing nature-based experiences and incentivizing indigenous communities to protect their natural resources. In this sense, circular tourism, characterized by reducing waste, conserving resources, and engaging local communities, is a great collaborative approach. This is a great first step towards creating more responsible tourism practices aimed at cultural and environmental conservation.

Indigenous voices provide novel viewpoints, ground-breaking concepts, and revolutionary programs. Any tourism development program worth its salt must consider Indigenous communities’ rich cosmologies and respect their roles as valued partners in the preservation of both culture and nature. They have long fought for their due status as caretakers of their cultural and natural heritage, and are the beating heart of a more inclusive and sustainable future for the tourism industry – a beautiful dance between tradition and progress.

Interested in learning about how Solimar recognizes the importance of Indigenous involvement in tourism development? Click here to read about our projects.

A reveller performs during a "pow-wow" celebrating the Indigenous Peoples' Day Festival in Randalls Island, in New York indigenous peoples' day

Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day – a Look at Three Native American Lands

Written by Hayden Hamilton on October 9, 2021. Posted in Uncategorized.

Native Americans have been the stewards of land conservation for millenniums. Today on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we celebrate them.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is here! Today is a day to pause and honor the rich history of native groups that have called the present-day land of America home for millenniums before European colonizers. How long exactly is currently up for debate. Historically, it was believed that the Americas have been lived on for the past 13,000 years, after the retreat of massive path-blocking glaciers, but recently that time frame has been shattered. With the discovery of a 23,000 year old footprint in White Sand National Park, scientists are now at a new dawn of archaeology. To celebrate the important history of Native Americans, we present three groups and the practices they established to utilize and honor the natural systems that sustained them.

Reclaiming and Renaming Columbus Day

Interestingly, Columbus Day itself was founded due to discrimination. In the early to mid-19th century, Italian immigrants became more and more prominent in the United States of America. With that, came a wave of Catholic culture and groups. These groups were met with much adversity by the protestant groups that settled in America before them. Longing for relief and acceptance, Italian immigrants began to cling to the legacy of Christopher Columbus – a figure who was not widely known at the time. Books padded the story of Columbus’ arrival and glorified his character. And in 1906, Colorado was the first state to officially recognize Columbus Day.

Origins of Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Pushed for decades informally, but first recognized by the state of South Dakota in 1989, “Native American Day” became a much better counter to the previous glorification of Columbus. In 1992, marking the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ first voyage, American Indians in Berkeley, California, organized the first “Indigenous Peoples’ Day”. Now, Indigenous Peoples’ Day has replaced Columbus Day in many states, and acts as a national holiday to celebrate those native cultures and pay respect to the history of indigenous America.

Three Indigenous Groups and their Sustainable Practices

Nomadic Grazing in the Great Plains

What comes to mind when you think of the American Great Plains? Grand? Majestic? Rich-beyond-belief? No, it’s probably the thought of a vast corn field, or maybe a long flat stretch of land with a few cows and a windmill. The Great Plains weren’t always like this. In fact, when first observed by European settlers, most were in disbelief at the beauty and biodiversity of the land. Now, it’s a different story. The Great Plains aren’t appreciated as majestic or rich, because colonizers have changed the landscape with homogenized farming.

Years ago, the land was inhabited by a list of native groups, some of which include the Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Blackfoot tribes. Most of these groups were nomadic or semi-nomadic. Instead of settling and working land permanently, they often followed herds and pleasant weather. Following herds allowed previously grazed land an opportunity to recover and regrow, while providing the herds and humans a survey of fresh wild plant growth. Also, in following agreeable weather, these groups were able to escape harsh conditions like drought, flooding, or early freezes, all problems that modern farmers loathe.

Native people used the Great Plains in the way they naturally evolved to be used. And contrary to what we may believe today, the land should not be closed up, locked down, and homogenized. Today, regenerative ranching techniques are being studied and practiced, and they all are based around the natural, native way the land used to produce. As this change occurs, attention needs to be paid, not only to the practices and techniques, but to the tribes themselves that originated. Tribal tourism is an excellent way to bring much needed funding to the tribes that still work in the Great Plains, and with any luck, our nation’s majestic center may one day return to it’s natural, extra-productive beauty.

Preserved Beauty in Sierra Nevada

Starting in the middle of the 19th century, some of America’s most beautiful regions were swarmed with entrepreneurs dead-set on taking their “fair share” of the natural bounty of the gold rush. Rivers were filled, mountains were blasted, and violence invaded a once serene place.

Before the area became a magnet, many native tribes lived in the area. Among them, the Maidu Tribe was a prominent group in the area around Lassen Volcanic National Park. They traveled in the summer, existing in temporary teepees and hunting big game, and stayed stationary in the winter, living in pit houses and surviving off stored food. Salmon, trout, and deer were some of the main proteins in their diet. And all these could be found at a plentiful rate. It wasn’t until the influx of 49’ers, that the food supplies started to be crippled. Oak trees were cut ruthlessly, game populations were hunted to dwindling levels, and mining runoff interfered with river health. It didn’t take long before the activity in the area forced the Maidu off their land, and into the Round Valley Reservation.

After the mining boom started to die, the wildlife slowly returned. Rivers regained health, and native growth took back the once bustling operations. Conservation groups stepped in and aided regrowth of the area, and worked to rebuild some of the natural systems that sustained tribes like the Maidu. As more attention and development is brought to these mountains, discretion is needed to manage what gets heavily trafficked. For this cause, National Geographic partnered with Solimar and the Sierra Nevada Business Council to address this specific issue. An interactive website was created to point out and promote the lesser known points of interest, right next to the biggest names. In this work, an avenue was created to lift up and protect the points of natural and cultural importance in the area.

Thriving in the Southwest United States

In the south western region of the United States, water is a scarcity. Just ask any city planner in Las Vegas or Phoenix, and they’ll start to describe the logistical problems with trying to supply potable water to millions of people in America’s driest states. So you can only imagine how much harder it was before the modern marvels of today’s reservoir and transportation systems. Much like the perception of the Great Plains mentioned above, this is a bit of a fallacy. To get a look at “easy living” in the sunbelt, we need to take a look, once again, at the indigenous groups from the area.

Tribes like the Ute, Hopi, and the Navajo Nation thrived in the area around the present Four Corners Monument. As one can assume when looking at abandoned mass-dwellings like those of Mesa Verde National Park, large civilizations were logistically challenging in this area. As the climate became more and more arid, tribes opted for smaller, better placed communities. Labeled by Spanish explorers as “pueblitos,” small villages dominated the area. These villages were chosen with a keen eye to water supply, tactical placement, and proximity to resources. Thousands of acres of surveyed land were passed up and left by native groups seeking settlement points, and only the best areas were chosen. With these smaller, spread out groups, life was easier to sustain in harsh conditions. Water supplies were less likely to be depleted, and food was better distributed among the land.

Much like the work in Sierra Nevada, another Mapguide was established for the Four Corners region. With this work, more money can be brought to smaller communities and attractions that stand outside of the huge pulls like Moab and the Grand Canyon. So when looking at the issues of huge desert urban areas, the idea of a network of smaller communities looks a whole lot more sustainable and attractive.

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor this land’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today. Solimar urges all to consider and honor the many Indigenous communities and cultures that make up this country, both today and every day.

Check out our Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail project to learn how Solimar has worked with Native American tribes across the United States.

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