How to Be a Respectful Visitor on US Native Lands

28.10.2024 - 19:43 / cntraveler.com

We’ve all seen those forehead-slap-inducing headlines about a negligent tourist doing something downright egregious on Native American homelands. It's easy to scoff, but the reality is that even the most well-intentioned travelers among us can make mistakes—say, inadvertently perpetuating harmful stereotypes or unknowingly trespassing onto protected lands.

Kate Nelson, an Alaska Native Tlingit tribal member, is an award-winning writer and editor living in Minneapolis who regularly covers Indigenous travel experiences.

With Indigenous tourism on the rise, it's important to act with cultural consciousness as you move through Indian Country, a general term that describes the hundreds of sovereign, self-governing tribal nations across the United States with their own laws and regulations. That's true whether you're intentionally traveling to learn from and about Native communities, or visiting popular attractions situated on ancestral lands and/or current Indian reservations.

We asked top Indigenous tourism experts, from Oklahoma to Alaska to Hawaii, what they wish travelers knew before visiting. While there are no definitive rules that can be applied in all spaces and scenarios, they share 12 tips, below, that can act as strong starting points for anybody aiming to visit Native American homelands in a more respectful manner.

“A lot of Indigenous communities have been displaced, and it’s important to realize you’re a guest on these lands,” says Emily Edenshaw (Yup’ik/Iñupiaq), president and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. “For instance, even though I’m Alaska Native, I’m not native to the lands where I live, known as Dena’ina Ełnena. Therefore I have a responsibility to learn about the true history of this place and the Indigenous peoples who live here.” In short, do your homework researching both the past and present inhabitants of an area. This is a great way to better understand the world around you even when not traveling, since Native American history has largely been left out of American history. Interactive maps, like the one at native-land.ca, allow travelers to find this information easily.

Unsure of when you can take photos or bear witness to a ceremony? Just ask, experts say. (Pictured: The Akwesasne International Powwow in Ontario)

“There’s this false narrative out there that Native people are no longer here even though there are 7.2 million of us living in the United States,” says American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) CEO Sherry Rupert (Paiute/Washoe). “In reality, there are 574 federally recognized tribes as well as state-recognized tribes and others seeking recognition all across this nation. Much of our culture is based on the resources around