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Tourism and Indigenous People
by Ron
Mader
If we don't all prosper together, then nothing will have
been achieved.
- Native
Notebook
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| Indigenous
People's Week (August 6-10, 2012) is an online unconference
focusing on Indigenous Peoples and tourism. Themes include biodiversity
conservation, crafts, cultural heritage, food and literacy
(traditional reading and writing and digital literacy -- the
emerging read write culture).
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MEXICO
In Mexico
collaborative projects include documenting language and crafts
by the Ayuuk (Mixe), Zapotecs, Mixtecs and Chinantecos.
We have collaborated with the artisans in Teotitlán
del Valle in developing weaver-led tours, as part of our
annual fair. This is an innovative project that has already
generated a directory of weavers and a dictionary of local Zapotec.
In 2012 we are focusing attention on the Maya
World and seeking to engage with responsible tourism operations
in the region.
NEW ZEALAND
The Maori call New
Zealand 'Aotearoa,' the Land of the Long White Cloud. The
Maori are descended from people who originally populated the
Pacific Islands.
The past two years Planeta.com joins in the annual celebration
of Matariki and Maori Language Week.
AUSTRALIA
In Australia
Planeta.com collaborated with Aboriginal Tourism Australia in
developing marketing strategies for aboriginal tour operators.
We participated in the 2007 Business Development Symposium,
a powerful capacity building training seminar that brought together
a number of stakeholders to review current policy.
Indigenous and aboriginal operations have a challenge not
faced by other stakeholders: succession. What if the kids do
not wish to follow? Operations that are developed and marketed
for their indigenous identity cannot be sold.
In research conducted for Australia's Indigenous Tourism Research
Agenda (pdf),
experts found that funding goes to communities, even though
the sole proprietorships and joint ventures have better chance
of financial success. "Policy-makers need better information
to shape policy," says researcher Joc Schmicchen.
Aboriginal Tourism Australia provided a central point of contact
for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tourism
with a membership that spans the country. However in recent
times it has become increasingly difficult to survive and we
have done so through the tireless work of our staff and a number
of other people in voluntary roles along with the financial
assistance of a few organisations, both corporate and government,
who have shared our vision ...The Board of Directors have arrived
at just one conclusion - that we are unable to see a sustainable
future for Aboriginal Tourism Australia. Consequently the Board
of Directors has resolved that Aboriginal Tourism Australia
will cease trading at the end of July 2008. (Planeta
Update)
EUROPE
Sámi
is used to name the Lappish people, the indigenous population
of Sápmi (northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Kola peninsula
in Russia). The Sami people live in four countries and have
no national state of their own, but the Sami flag has been flying
in Norway, Finland, Russia and Sweden since 1986.
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INDIGENOUS TOURISM IN THE 21ST
CENTURY
Indigenous peoples are using the Web to share their stories
with the world.and travelers are connecting with indigenous
communities. Welcome to the world of indigenous tourism 2.0.
The Web -- and in particular Web
2.0: Flickr, Slideshare, YouTube, Twitter -- creates an
extraordinary opportunity for indigenous people with crafts
and tourism services to get the word out about their world and
the protocols expected of others.
Most visitors are willing to abide local protocol, but rules
need to be clearly defined before arrival. Just where are visitors
invited? Where are visitors asked to stay away?
Guidelines -- such as explaining gender-specific activities
or which places are off limit to visitors -- help diminish misunderstandings
and social faux paus.
Likewise the options for what visitors can do need to be more
evident. Many visitors miss out on connecting with locals via
food, crafts and tours simply because the promotional brochures,
flyers, business cards are not visible. Typically promotion
happens during or after an event and the operator websites are
non-existent or have not been updated in a few years.
Visitors are asking deep questions about the values inherent
in their tours. How do the tours and purchase of crafts
or food benefit the locals? What is the status of local biodiversity
conservation? Where does my money go?
As the movements toward local travel and responsible travel
deepen, indigenous peoples have much to offer a growing number
of travelers who wish to respect people and place. Putting such
noble ideas into practice is the task at hand!
Tourism is changing from 50-seat bus tours to smaller groups
and individual travel. Long
tail marketing and sales in tourism certainly can benefit
rural communities and indigenous tourism services once the locals
know how to share their stories online as well as on tour. Valuable
conversations -- online and on the ground -- only deepen these
partnerships and motivate others.
Planeta.com features coverage of indigenous people and tourism
in regional guides. We have also entered into an extended dialogue
with indigenous leaders around the world that take the form
of web workshops and webinars and guides for visitors.
PROTECTED AREAS
Indigenous peoples manage more than 40% of all IUCN-recognized
protected areas in the world, and many of them - if not most
- use tourism as a complement, or main product, of their economic
benefits from these areas.
GENUINE CONSULTATION
In the development of many projects, including tourism, conservation,
indigenous people have not been considered as valued stakeholders
from the start. In the worst cases, they are not listened to
in the development of 'charitable' projects. Adequate consultation
is a must. The question for non-indigenous tourism developers,
media, government leaders, academics and yours truly is how
to listen to indigenous voices and integrate these perspectives
into ongoing work.
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BACKGROUND: INTERNATIONAL YEAR
OF ECOTOURISM
One of the critiques of 2002's International
Year of Ecotourism came from indigenous groups, many of
which complained that they are not adequately included in tourism
development.
To the credit of the summit organizers, these critics were
included in the event and the declaration. The Summit was one
of the few recent international events that had no protesters
had the door because most had already been invited inside.
One of the results of the discussion was the addition to the
Quebec
Declaration that stressed "ecotourism must recognize and
respect the land rights of indigenous and local communities,
including their protected, sensitive and sacred sites."
During one of the meetings of indigenous peoples, one participant
remarked that it's time not only to rethink tourism, but to
redo it.
"I had the opportunity to view first-hand the efforts by Indigenous
leaders present to bring forward the concerns and perspectives
of Indigenous communities for the benefit of Indigenous peoples
and for the benefit of ecotourism and the planet," said Rick
MacLeod Farley, a development economist working with community
economic development in northern Canada.
"These efforts were treated by some of the organizers with hostility
and rudeness, and in other cases with good intentions. The process
for dealing with the input was flawed, and the impact on the
final WES declaration was much less than appropriate."
Farley added: "I came away from the WES gathering excited
by the positive energy and the passion and commitment of countless
people. However, I also came away with the realization that
there is a tremendous divide between the international agencies
and indigenous leadership. The buzzword in the research and
at the conferences is that 'local people' need 'capacity building.'
With all due sincere respect, I would like to suggest that there
is also a need for 'capacity building' within the international
agencies themselves."
The final version did not appease some of the critics, who
believe that 'First Nations' deserve a role greater than mere
stakeholders in the process. Some activists suggested that if
the consultation were not improved, representatives should engage
in active non-cooperation.
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ITBW AWARD
As a collaborative endeavor, the Indigenous
Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award is the high point
of a decade-plus conservation with the Secretariat
of the Convention on Biological Diversity's Oliver Hillel
and numerous friends - indigenous and non-indigenous peoples
- about the best ways to develop indigenous tourism. As a non-indigenous
person myself, I ask what are the best ways that other non-indigenous
peoples connect with individuals and communities who take pride
in their indigenous heritage.
We started the work in early 2008 as I posted a query on the
Planeta Forum to see how such an award could be developed. Discussion
led to the first award in 2009 and continued in 2010 with the
generous support of the Heidehof
Foundation.
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The award is presented
to an indigenous tourism operation which has a website that
promotes sustainable practices and educates visitors on cultural
protocols and biodiversity conservation The objective is to
showcase good practices on the Web of indigenous peoples managing
tourism in a biodiversity-friendly way. The award also creates
incentives for indigenous peoples to partner with other indigenous
and non-indigenous peoples.
A jury composed of six internationally recognized experts in
indigenous and sustainable tourism picked their favorites and
also invested quite a bit of time in spreading the word. Kudos
to everyone involved!
To see examples of the Web 2.0 in action set in motion by the
award, check out the ITBW
Twitter List of nominees, jury and organizers. The list
is updated automatically everytime one of the participants tweets!
Another example is the Flickr
album featuring the award's artwork and nominee screenshots.
The album documents the variety of options employed by the nominees
and the steady development of Web 2.0 skills. More than one
nominee confessed that they were on the learning curve when
it came to development a presence on Facebook and Twitter. To
be honest, we're all on this learning curve and meetings such
as the Oregon Ecotourism Conference help us articulate a shared
vision of how we wish to use this wired space.
The winner of the judged 2010 ITBW Award is Nutti
Sami Siida, which features reindeer sled trips in Sweden.
Owners Nils Torbjörn Nutti and Carina Pingi are both Sami
from Gabna Sameby. The winner of the popular count 2010 ITBW
Award is TIME Unlimited
Tours from New Zealand, operated by the Maori-European couple
Ceillhe Tewhare Teneti Hema Sperath and Néill Sperath,
and providing personalised and interactive Auckland and Maori
Indigenous Cultural Tours.
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UPGRADE YOUR WORLD
Upgrade your world! See if Ron's workshop works for you. |
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