The summer tourist season is in full swing for many due to the vaccination against COVID-19 and the loosening of restrictions domestically and internationally. High gas prices and increased inflation don’t seem to have an immediate effect on vacations.
The World Travel & The Tourism Council estimates that US travel and tourism could reach pre-pandemic levels of nearly $2 trillion. The Commerce Department estimated the industry was worth $1.9 trillion in 2019.
And the first report to “officially track the economic impact of Native-owned hospitality businesses” showed in 2017 that Native American tourism is a $14 billion industry.
A report on the economic impact of Native tourism businesses, released by the Alaska American Indian Tourism Association in partnership with Honolulu-based SMS Research, also found that one in four Native-owned businesses are directly or indirectly supported by tourism industry.
Please note that the US is still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and it is recommended that you check in advance for any related restrictions.
Here are a few places that contribute to the development of domestic tourism:
Donna Tinnin, senior museum and events manager for the Cherokee Nation, said they are seeing more families taking day trips because of the increase in travel costs this year.
“We recommend starting at the National Museum of Cherokee History to get an overview of Cherokee history up to the present day. From there, you can explore the new outdoor art installation on the cultural trail that provides safe passage to the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum and the Cherokee National Prison Museum. The trail also connects visitors to things like the arts center, cafes and more,” Tinnin said.
The tribe is slated to open the Anna Mitchell Cultural and Welcome Center in Vinita, Oklahoma — next to the Route 66 icon — in late summer. It will have an exhibition gallery, a souvenir shop, a grab-and-go cafe and a space for cultural classes and events.
Located in the Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park in northern Arizona, visitors can only see the breathtaking eroded canyon walls with mandatory tour guides. The number of visitors increased by millions compared to about 162,500 in 2008, according to the Navajo-Hopi Observer.
The park has reopened after being closed for a year due to the pandemic. It is on “yellow status”, which means that maximum occupancy of up to 75 percent is allowed.
Some of the tour guides are: Navajo Antelope Canyon Tours, Tsebighanilini Tours and Antelope Canyon Adventure Tours.
Flathead Lake and Wild Buffalo Rapids
Flathead Lake and Wild Buffalo Rapids are located in Montana on the Flathead Reservation, home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreilles tribes – also known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation.
Visitors can explore the grounds of the Flathead Raft Company, owned by Tammy Fragua, a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Andrea Martinez, of the Walker River Paiute Tribe, is the owner of Next Evolution Cafe in Schurz, Nevada – located on the Walker River Indian Reservation. They provide plant-based food, drinks and healthy coffee.
She said that this tourist season they have seen a “definite increase in the number of travelers stopping by our store.”
On Next Evolution’s website, she said she wants to “create a space for our community and travelers to come find rest and healing. Food that comes from the land has always been a staple of our culture as Native Americans, it’s time to reconnect with our ways of being one with the land and use food as a way to heal and thrive.”
In 2021, two of Wyoming’s national parks hit record annual visitor numbers. Yellowstone had 4.8 million visitors and Grand Teton 3.8 million visitors.
The nearby Wind River Reservation offers self-guided tours for mobile audio drives that explore the home of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.
A group of Fort Washakie High School students helped create narratives for 10 significant sites of the Eastern Shoshone people.
The Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, home to the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes, is one of the largest reservations in the United States. (Photo courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Services)
Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum
The museum — located in Carson City, Nevada — is dedicated to the first children and families of the Great Basin Tribe who experienced the effects of the Stewart Indian School when it opened in 1890. It was closed 90 years later, in 1980.
“This museum is not a museum in the Western sense, but a gathering place for Stewart’s alumni and their families,” according to the website.
The 350-mile route takes travelers through South Dakota; lands of the Yankton Sioux, Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux tribes.
Along the five and a half hour journey there are numerous museums, monuments and sacred places that visitors can see.
Some of these include: Dakota Territorial Museum, South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center, Lewis and Clark Recreation Area, Randall Creek State Recreation Area, Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge, a 50-foot statue called Dignity: Land and Sky and Monument to the sitting bull.
Members of a Lakota family exhumed what they believed to be the remains of a sitting bull from Fort Yates, North Dakota, transporting them for reburial near Mobridge, South Dakota, his birthplace. A monument to him was erected there.
The center celebrates its first anniversary in Calera, Oklahoma on July 23. More than a decade of research and work went into helping create the center, Chief Gary Batton of the Choctaw Nation said in a news release.
The celebration will begin at 10 a.m. and will feature an art market, chocolate-making class, children’s and cultural activities, and a photo booth.
Navajo Tribal Park offers travelers a 17-mile loop on a first-come, first-served basis. It reopened last year after being closed due to the pandemic. It is on “yellow status” which means that maximum occupancy is allowed up to 75 percent.
There are multiple guided tours of Monument Valley, horseback trail rides, and tours of the San Juan River.
View of Monument Valley, Utah, looking south on US Route 163.
The National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on November 11, 2021. (Photo by Jourdan Bennett-Begaye, Indian Country Today)
National Native American Veterans Memorial
The monument is located within the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. and opened on November 11, 2020. Honors Native American veterans for their service in the US military.
20 million domestic visitors are projected to visit Washington D.C., about 87 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to Axios.
The monument is accessible 24 hours a day.
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