Dear friends,

Can we engage with tourism without replicating some of the dangerous patterns of colonization and "discovery"?  

I found myself thinking about this question for the umpteenth time earlier this summer.  In our modern world, the desire to "discover new places", "explore the world," and "escape" from the grind of daily/industrialized life, especially in cities is a desire exploited and in some ways perpetuated by the multi-trillion dollar tourism industry.  Which I've totally participated in. Frequently. 

Engaging with tourism - really any kind of travel - raises a lot of questions. How do we travel well?  

And how do we 'host' well? For my native colleagues, neighbors, and friends/family, this question can sound like, "How can we create indigenous-led tourism opportunities  for economic benefit and cultural learning without selling our soul/going into the tourism-industry trap ourselves?" 

Happily, Dr. Alexis Bunten (Unangan/Yup’ik), whom I originally came to know through the Bioneers network where she co-leads the Bioneers' Indigeneity Program, agreed to talk with me about these questions for our podcast.

In addition to her work at Bioneers, she is a deep thinker and influencer in tourism, especially cultural tourism. She's worked extensively in the tourism industry, gotten her Ph.D. in cultural tourism in Alaska, and has been consulting for Indigenous-led startups as well as established businesses. Her 2015 book,

“So, How Long Have You Been Native?: Life as an Alaska Native Tour Guide” won the Alaska Library Association Award for its originality and depth. In 2018, she co-authored a global Indigenous tourism anthology titled, “Indigenous Tourism Movements.” Her work has received multiple awards.