Identity Tourism: A Medium for Native American Stories

Abstract

This article considers identity tourism, which comprises both ethnic and heritage tourism, as a medium for the projection of ethnic and nationalist messages. Marginalized peoples acquire "spoiled" or stigmatized identities through stories that use their alleged inferiority to "explain" their position. They may counter the negative group images created through these stories by fashioning new stories of their history and culture, in an effort to set the record straight. Museums and other attractions that focus on a group's history and culture serve as a medium, in that they provide opportunities to tell a revised story and build a revalued collective identity. The analysis draws from examples of Native American heritage attractions in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia to examine the specific properties of the medium of identity tourism, and how these properties shape the messages that can be conveyed through it.