Native American-Owned Tours in the USA
Learning about Glacier National Park with Blackfeet-owned Glacier Sun Tours.
If you’re traveling in the United States, then you’re traveling on Native American land. In fact, did you know that Native Americans were forcibly removed from their homelands in order to create our national parks? Taking Native-owned tours is a wonderful way to learn about the history and culture of these places while supporting local communities.
All of the Native-owned tours we’ve taken have been fantastic - in fact, they’re often the highlight of a trip for us. If you know of any that aren’t mentioned here, please drop them in the comments!
Excellent Native-owned tours that we recommend:
Navajo Spirit Tours - Monument Valley Tribal Park, Arizona
You can drive through Monument Valley in your own car, but you’re missing out on so much! Our wonderful guide, Larsen, told us about the history of all the landmarks in Monument Valley, took us to a traditional Navajo dwelling and educated us about Navajo culture, showed us spots that visitors can’t access without a local guide, and gave us tips on how to get the best photos at every location. They also offer overnight camping tours, which we can’t wait to return for!
Ute Mountain Tribal Park - Colorado
Ute Mountain Tribal Park shares a border with better-known Mesa Verde National Park, the first US park established to preserve cultural history rather than natural wonders. If you’re visiting Mesa Verde to see the incredible Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings, don’t miss a tour in Ute Mountain! This park is within the Ute Reservation and is run by tribal members. It contains 125,000 acres of undisturbed Ancestral Pueblo ruins - and the only way to see them is with a local Ute guide.
We spent an entire day with Wolf, our Ute guide, hiking among ancient untouched dwellings built into towering sandstone cliffs. Our small group had the entire canyon to ourselves. It felt like we’d stepped back in time, walking the very trails used by the Ancestral Pueblo. Wolf explained to us not only their history, but the culture of his own tribe who came after and still call this land home. (At Mesa Verde, he pointed out, you’ll get details on the Ancestral Pueblo & the creation of the national park, but the long history of the Ute - who were removed from their land in order to establish the park - is glossed right over.)
Wolf pointed out endless shards of ancient pottery on the ground everywhere we walked, and petroglyphs left behind by the Ancestral Pueblo. These artifacts are exactly as they have been for centuries, because the tribe believes this land is sacred so no one lives there or disturbs what they find. Wolf asked us to encourage more people to visit - to walk alongside them through what he calls “spiritually active ruins” and hear stories passed down by their ancestors. To do so was an incredible privilege we’ll never forget.
Glacier Sun Tours - Glacier National Park, Montana
Glacier National Park is on Blackfeet land, so who better to tour the park with than a Blackfeet guide? Glacier Sun Tours’ guides are lifelong residents of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation who hope to educate and inspire visitors to understand and appreciate the Blackfeet world. They share their knowledge of Tribal history and culture as well as park history, animal species, plants and roots used for nutrition and medicine, and more. It was very important to us to support the community whose land was taken in order to create this park - and we loved this tour!
Makana Charters - Kauai, Hawaii
Whether or not traveling to Hawaii is ethical is hotly debated (more on this in my instagram highlight). But if you do decide to visit, make sure to support locally-owned businesses so that your tourist money stays in the local community. The Napali Coast can’t be reached by car, so a boat tour is the best way to see this unique and stunning scenery (plus you might see some dolphins along the way!). Makana Charters is Native Hawaiian-owned family business, and our captain/guide was so fun and knowledgeable!
Antelope Canyon - Arizona
We haven’t personally taken a tour here yet, but they come highly recommended! Antelope Canyon is made up of two magnificent slot canyons within the Navajo Nation and it is a sacred site for the Navajo people. Navajo Tours and Tsé Bíghanílíní Tours both offer guides who are members of the Navajo Nation, who will help you get gorgeous photos of Antelope Canyon while teaching about Navajo culture and history.
If you know of any other great Native American-owned tours, please shout them out in the comments!
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