Indigenous Peoples Week Celebrates Indigenous Tourism

By Ron Mader/Planeta.com 

Photo: Charlie Johnston

Planeta.com, Nutti Sámi Siida, Guurrbi Tours, TIME Unlimited, and Nevada Magazine co-host Indigenous Peoples Week, August 6-12, the second annual celebration of social media storytelling about indigenous peoples and tourism around the world.

This online "unconference" is free, and everyone's invited. The objective is two-fold: to raise awareness of indigenous tourism options around the world and improve digital literacy skills among indigenous tourism providers themselves.

Our circle of conversation includes indigenous and non-indigenous peoples around the world. Complete details are available online at Planeta Wiki.

Be Engaged: How to Participate

Learn social media by using it — blogs, Delicious, Facebook, Flickr, Foodspotting, Foursquare, Google+, Linkedin, Pinterest, Slideshare, Twitter, YouTube, and Wikipedia — to learn and share info about indigenous culture.

1. Delicious: Follow the Indigenous Peoples Week Stack, and suggest a link.
2. Facebook: Introduce yourself or ask a question on the event page.
3. Flickr: Create an account, and upload a few photos of your work. There are a
   number of relevant groups. One of our favorites is the World Crafts Group, and another is the World Parks Group.
4. Foodspotting: Please share photos of indigenous foods available for visitors.
5. Slideshare: Favorite the overview presentation, and seek out or create a new presentation about indigenous culture.
6. Twitter: Tweet about indigenous culture, and please tweet about the event. Use the hashtag #ipw2012.
7. YouTube: Videos, please! Record your own video, and introduce yourself and your interest in indigenous tourism. You can also curate a playlist to document indigenous culture and traditional knowledge. Example here.
8. Wikipedia: Read or edit information about indigenous culture.

At Nevada Magazine, we celebrate indigenous peoples and tourism by writing about our American Indian populations — there are 27 federally recognized tribes in the state. In fact, our July/August 2011 issue was dedicated to Indian Territory. You can read most of those stories here, and you can view our "Rock Art" story on Slideshare here.

Our current July/August 2012 issue contains a story about the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, which was voted a Nevada "treasure" in the recent Discover Your Nevada campaign. Read the story here, and learn how the Nevada Governor is taking an active role.

Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation in Nevada. Photo: Charlie Johnston