Indigenous Ecotourism in Wyoming

This project presents indigenous-led ecotourism, with a focus on education, as an avenue for reshaping Wyoming outdoor recreation and tourism in a way that promotes the economy of local tribes and the state while increasing education around indigenous cultures, history, and traditional ecological knowledge. This is done by investigating the successful case study of the Yurok Tribe’s education-based ecotourism practices and natural resource management, in addition to the local Yellowstone Revealed project that illustrates Tribal connection to the land as well as art, history, and culture. The project results illustrate that indigenous ecotourism not only provides tribes with the authority to develop their own tourism practices and control cultural narratives, reducing miscommunications and biases, but also has economic benefits for local communities and businesses while positively impacting the environment.

While we are advocating for Indigenous tourism, we believe it is important to note that none of us of Indigenous decent. We did a lot of research and several interviews, we would like to acknowledge that each tribe from different case studies has its own unique culture, traditions, and outlook that may not apply to the tribes in Wyoming and no individual that we interviewed can speak for a whole. Our research does lead us to the conclusion that Indigenous ecotourism has some benefits for shaping Wyoming outdoor recreation. 

The history of settler colonialism in the outdoor industry has created a desire for greater environmental justice and a more sustainable mode of outdoor recreation. Thus we advocate for an advanced investment for Indigenous tourism as a solution.

Indigenous tourism provides a means to reshape how outdoor recreation looks in the state of Wyoming, Indigenous tourism is part of a growing movement for more Indigenous control over their historical lands with strong support in both the United States and Canada. While many of these Indigenous-led companies are guiding companies, there is also a strong focus on education of visitors. Wyoming has an opportunity to create a model for Indigenous-led ecotourism.

-      Increased cultural exchange

-      Economically benefits tribes and local communities and businesses

-      Positively benefit the environment

-      Emphasizes importance of traditional ecological knowledge of the landscape

The aim of this project is to present Indigenous ecotourism, with a focus on education, as an avenue for reshaping Wyoming outdoor recreation and tourism in a way that promotes the economy for Indigenous peoples while increasing education about Indigenous cultures and traditional ecological knowledge. Within our group we have held many in-depth discussions about the successful case studies and how they can illustrate the ways Indigenous ecotourism can be carried out and shows resulting benefits from this type of tourism.

Challenges that may come along with Indigenous education is people using the ideas they have learned in ways that appropriate the culture. Education around Indigenous-led ecotourism could have interchangeable results of cultural appropriation, since people will be learning about why it is important for Indigenous culture and refrain from these practices, or it could have the opposite effect and give people a more detailed account into what is done. Another challenge is that at first people may come to these opportunities to “see a show”, since identity is not recreation, having boundaries in place will ensure that there will be respect from outsiders of the community for the time being. This will remain as an unfortunate possibility until there is a major societal shift that understands that Indigenous culture is an identity, people may often take advantage of the beauty within the culture.

Our research has taught us a lot about the wide-reaching impacts of settler colonialism especially in how they relate to outdoor recreation. In doing our case studies and research our group has focused on how ecotourism exploits Indigenous communities by using their culture and lands as a marketing tool. We have also learned how Indigenous ecotourism is becoming a new movement and gaining momentum. This has emphasized the need for us to be conscious in how we interact with ecotourism and use land. Specifically, in the Yurok Tribe case study shows how land title and management is an important first step in developing sustainable Indigenous ecotourism practices. Through collaborations the tribe bought back land, gaining control and jurisdiction over ancestral lands, giving them the power to create and develop their own tourism and natural resource management practices, which has been shown to positively impact the surrounding environment, as well as bolstering economic revenue among local communities and businesses. Additionally, the case study demonstrates that the creation of a management plan created by and for the tribe is an important factor impacting the success and sustainability of Indigenous ecotourism. The Yurok Tribe Action Plan for the management and development of tourism in the area that took into consideration the economic impacts and capacities of local communities and businesses as well as environmental impacts and capacities. Thus, these two factors were instrumental in laying the foundation for the sustainability of Indigenous ecotourism, both of which are applicable to Wyoming. Furthermore, the case study illustrates how educational-based Indigenous ecotourism can not only creates an avenue for sharing knowledge and culture with visitors, but can also be a way for tribes to reduce miscommunication and biased perspectives and ensure that the history and stories, names and places will be depicted to the best authenticity.

The execution of proposed actions presented can take different forms, but we maintain an emphasis on the importance of title, land control, and management plans as factors impacting the successful and sustainability of indigenous tourism practices. Our recommendations take the form of concrete first steps that can be taken.

1. Continued Support of Current Indigenous Ecotourism Practices: There are current indigenous tourism practices throughout the state that should continue to be supported financially and socially by government and outdoor recreation
2. Executing Needs and Wants Assessments: A needs/wants assessment should be made to gauge if this is something that tribes want, and the support needed to establish these ecotourism practices and succeed
3. Developing a Management Plan: Next step could be then be the development of a management plan by and for tribes that establishes parameters, control, and support for the execution of ecotourism practices

Recommendations this project has come up with are based on background research, case studies, and interviews pertain to what factors and aspects should be in place before the execution of Indigenous ecotourism projects to ensure the success, longevity, and economic benefit of the projects for Indigenous communities and other local groups. Overall, all recommendations point to the importance of Indigenous ecotourism being by and for the affiliated tribes, giving them autonomy to develop and control their tourism practices and how they wish to educate tourists and share their culture and traditional ecological knowledge. Other recommended objectives are open communication, respected boundaries for individual tribes to decide what can be part of educative aspects, tribal representation in management and government, and support in many aspects from both the local and federal government.

This project has been the necessity for an intersectional approach to issues like developing sustainable recreation in Wyoming. Even with a relatively small population Wyoming still has a diversity of voices. By ensuring that our research accounted for that diversity we were able to synthesize a potential solution for sustainable outdoor recreation. Looking to Indigenous ecotourism with a focus on education helps economically with employment in rural areas and boosts Indigenous voices.

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