Visiting Native Communities Is More Important Than Ever—Here’s How to Do It Right

Unpacked by AFAR

Last November, while reporting our “Unpacking Albuquerque” episode, I spent a day at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. It’s this huge complex that takes up a city block, and it serves as the gateway to New Mexico’s 19 pueblos. Part of my tour included an interview with Monique Fragua, the center’s COO (and a woman with great taste in jewelry, as you’ll hear in the episode).

We talked about why the cultural center exists, beyond just sharing pueblo cultural life (and food—the restaurant is a must-try). Monique explained that many travelers are interested in visiting the pueblos but are either unsure of or unaware of the etiquette around visiting. For example, some pueblos are completely closed to the public and have no interest in developing tourist infrastructure and others have “more formalized experiences like visitors’ center or organized hiking tours,” Monique says.

So the IPCC serves as a kind of training ground as well, where visitors can ask questions like, “What’s the proper terminology?” and receive guidance around photography, attending cultural events, and more.

It got me thinking more broadly about Native tourism, which has expanded in recent years. And with the explosive success of True Detective: Night Country, there’s more attention than ever on Native issues. So we put together an episode on why to visit these communities—there are more than 500 tribes in the United States, each with totally different histories, customs, and experiences—and how to do so in a way that’s mutually beneficial.

There’s one line that’s stuck with me since Monique and I talked: She says that if we remember that we’re experiencing Native life “through a lens of a living community, a breathing culture,” we’re on the right path.

Meet this week’s guests

• Sherry Rupert, CEO of the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association
• Garan Coons, communications officer for the Winnebago tribe
• Kirby Metoxin, council member for the Oneida nation
• Monique Fragua, COO of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Resources

• Read this week’s show notes, including a full transcript of the episode.
• Listen to the “Unpacking Albuquerque” episode.
• Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
• Subscribe to AFAR’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Be sure to subscribe to the show and to sign up for our podcast newsletter, Behind the Mic, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, Travel Tales, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us.