Indigenizing Tourism: Native American Representations in Contemporary Travel Literature

This paper aims at investigating the ways in which contemporary travel literature deals with the search for authenticity in Indian country. It responds to the questions: How does contemporary travel literature deal with the search for authenticity in Indian communities? How do travel guidebooks present and “package“ the history of colonization in Indian country? How does contemporary travel literature represent the agency of Indian people in responding to touristic practices that do not conform to indigenous traditional customs? The analysis focuses on an area in the United States with a heavy concentration of Native communities, i.e., the Southwest. Fodor’s American Southwest, Lonely Planet’s Southwest USA, and The Rough Guide to Southwest USA will be critically examined. I argue that while there are different representations of Indianness in various travel guidebooks, the agency of Indian people should be given more prominence in the ways that their representations are made through tourism. Furthermore, to encourage visitors to conduct touristic practices properly and respectfully, as they travel to indigenous lands, these travel guidebooks should take into account indigenous people’s worldviews and epistemology