Indigenous People

Celebrating Indigenous Peoples around the globe

August 9, 2022 Selene Orellana Communities, Indigenous People, News + Blog

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION BY INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD.

For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have shared an ancestral connection to the land and the natural resources around them. Their unique cultures and ways of relating to each other and the environment have shaped their identity.

Learning from these communities can not only offer an advanced understanding of food systems, environmental conservation, science and innovation but also provide unforgettable experiences while travelling.

Tourism is presented as an alternative to preserving the cultural diversity and the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples. Likewise, it can foster entrepreneurship among local communities, helping them to develop socioeconomically and become more empowered.

For travellers, learning about Indigenous communities around the world allows them to delve into the traditions that have shaped our culture and history. As a result of this, both locals and tourists benefit from an educational and transformational experience.

At Planeterra, we support programs that recognize the unique offerings that Indigenous and rural communities have for tourism.

Meet some of our partners who are working to create meaningful connections between travellers and Indigenous peoples:

Gotsezhy Wiwa community tourism, Colombia

The Wiwa and Kogui are descendants of the ancient Tayrona people and have remained in isolation throughout history until the last couple of generations. They see tourism as a way to uphold their cultural values and share their customs and traditions, while also guaranteeing territorial sanitation and economic autonomy for the families of these communities.

Planeterra worked with the Wiwa community leaders directly to identify opportunities in communities along the Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) trekking route. Together, we developed a training kitchen, and a meal and handicraft experience all guided by local people in the Wiwa community of Gotsezhy.

Since then, the community has benefited greatly from the opportunity to increase their economic income and is now able to invest in social programs such as garbage management, community gardens, improving access to drinking water, and education.

Women have had a greater entrepreneurial role by participating in selling their handicrafts and being part of the food experience, and youths are training as local guides sharing their culture and traditions.

Learn more here.

Dqae Qare San Lodge, Botswana

The San are the earliest inhabitants of Southern Africa, they currently number around 113,000 and are scattered across six countries in the area, with a large number residing in the Kalahari region of Botswana.

With a grant from Planeterra, improvements to Dqae Qare San Lodge that would have taken five years to complete took only a matter of months. Additionally, with the D’kar community living on about 30 cents a day, the jobs provided at Dqae Qare are truly changing lives. One Dqae Qare employee is able to support a family of ten back in the village of D’Kar.

The revenue brought by connecting Dqae Qare San Lodge to a wider travel market, allows the Kuru Development Trust to invest more in their business, empower and employ more people from D’kar, and invest more into infrastructure and community projects like fresh water infrastructure and support for their preschool.

Learn more here.

Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, Canada

The colonization of what is now known as Canada, compounded with the implementation of residential schools and the fracturing of families, alongside the flu and smallpox epidemics, led to the alteration or loss of much of the oral history important to the Squamish and Lil’wat Nations of the Whistler region.

There exists a demand for a larger First Nations presence in the area, to ensure the ancient cultures of the Lil’wat and Squamish Nations are protected. Likewise, there is a great need for economic opportunities which will benefit youth who live on nearby reserves.

The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre affords youth from reserves in the region transport for classes, and the opportunity to train in the hospitality industry through an on-site museum and cultural tours.

Through its partnership with Planeterra and the connection to the travel market, the center can increase its visitor numbers, giving them more opportunities to expand its training base and available visitor activities.

Groups are able to visit the center to participate in activities such as a medicinal tea ceremony, bannock tasting, or a tour of the museum and grounds.

Learn more here.

Parwa Community Restaurant, Peru

Parwa Restaurant is owned by the Huchuy Qosqo Association, a community-based tourism enterprise developed by Planeterra with co-financing from the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank Group.

All income earned by the restaurant is used for investment in social projects for the community, executing clean water projects, and even installing a computer lab for the community’s youth, directly benefitting more than 40 individuals.

Also, the ingredients used in the restaurant are bought directly from the local farmers, providing a local market for direct sales. The employees at the restaurant have monthly salaries, health insurance, pension funds, and other labour benefits.

Over 25 micro-entrepreneurs received technical assistance and funds to establish new businesses to supply the Parwa restaurant or sell their goods to travellers who visit the Huchuy Qosco community.

Learn more here.

Shandia Lodge, Ecuador

The village of Shandia is located in the rainforest of eastern Ecuador. It is inhabited mostly by Indigenous people of the Kichwa nationality and was formerly an evangelical missionary center. The village currently consists of 120 families.

The community owns Shandia Lodge, which was developed with the purpose to generate employment opportunities, increasing collective self-esteem, and generating security, leadership, and management skills among the members of the community.

The community enterprise faced significant barriers to accessing the international market, and when they did, they risked losing their unique cultures and traditions. Also, the environment and wildlife needed to be protected with sustainable plans managed and led by locals.

Planeterra, in partnership with the local non-profit EcoCiencia, worked with the Shandia community to identify opportunities in tourism. Together, we developed new culturally immersive experiences, including a cycling tour and a community experience led by youth.

Travellers also have the opportunity to discover traditional agricultural practices and learn how to make chocolate.

Learn more here.

Barauli Community Homestay, Nepal

Barauli, home to the Tharu people, is a small Indigenous community near the Chitwan National Park in Nepal. The park is a popular tourism attraction that is well known for its wildlife but less known for the cultural value that it has to offer travellers.

Due to its distance from the typical places of interest in the park, the Tharu residents were not able to access the economic benefits of tourism. Limited opportunities for community members led to engagement in illegal activities like poaching and deforestation in the park as a means of income diversification.

To overcome this, the community homestay program was developed by Royal Mountain Travel, our ground partner, to connect travellers coming for the park’s wildlife with the rich culture of the Tharu people.

The village started with 14 individual cottages that are part of the homestay program, plus a community dining hall. The homestay project is completely run by Tharu women, providing diversified income opportunities in the region. Several different activities and livelihoods have been built out of this program, such as serving personnel and cooks, cooking class hosts, and local guides.

New homestays have opened up in the region to meet the increasing demand for travellers to have authentic community experiences while in Chitwan.

The community saves a portion of all tourism profits to be reinvested into community development including environmental projects, scholarships for students and improving the tourism experience.

Learn more here.

These are only some of the great projects being developed and led by Indigenous communities worldwide. We celebrate these communities and the key role they play in the preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge.

If you would like to support our work to help Indigenous-owned businesses recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and welcome travellers again, you can donate here.

HOW YOU CAN CELEBRATE THE WAY OF THE SAN

December 20, 2019 Planeterra Communities, Givingtuesday, Indigenous People, Our Projects, Stories from the Field

HOW YOU CAN CELEBRATE THE WAY OF THE SAN

Across Southern Africa, there are tourism experiences that promise to educate and inspire visitors about the Indigenous San – the original inhabitants of Southern Africa, and truly the original inhabitants of Planet Earth. A fascinating culture, the San are the earliest hunter-gatherers, having once lived across large areas of South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, and beyond.

As is true with most Indigenous people, their way of life, their knowledge, languages and culture have all been threatened first by colonialism, and nowadays by the legacy that colonialism has left behind – a lack of economic empowerment and opportunity, which leaves the San isolated.

Having lived in South Africa, and returning regularly in my capacity as Program Manager for Planeterra, I was well acquainted with tourism experiences – from lodges to museums – that attempted to celebrate the San.

But few have the power of Dqae Qare San Lodge. Owned freehold by the Indigenous community of D’Kar through the Kuru Development Trust, this wildlife reserve, campsite and lodge is a special and unique place. It provides full-time employment for 12 members of the D’Kar community and part-time work for over 40 more. With many in the community living on about 30 cents a day, these jobs are truly changing lives. One Dqae Qare employee is able to support a family of ten back in D’Kar.

Visiting Dqae Qare

The authenticity and power of the lodge hits visitors almost immediately. As I arrived on my first visit in February of 2018, I stepped out of my truck to find San community members bustling about the property. An employee drives past in a work vehicle filled with other employees on their way to a maintenance job near the campsite, a young San woman is setting the table under a thatched roof for dinner, and another greets me and checks me in at the lodge’s reception. I book the activities I want to partake in with her, and she happily leads me to my room. There’s a sense of purpose and passion behind every employee, and the feeling is palpable.

Later that day, I’m greeted by Dinah and Xgaiga, who take me out on a bushwalk to show me how the San have hunted, gathered food, and used the sometimes harsh Kalahari environment to their benefit. The San employees at Dqae Qare can identify more than 80 plants and their medicinal uses – it seems like every five steps we take, Xgaiga halts to point out a tree or a bush that has a practical use – this one protects you from snakes as you sleep, the bark of this tree can be boiled in water to cure colds and its leaves can be eaten to relieve a stomach ache.

In the evening, there is a storytelling and dance. Community members from nearby flood to the big bonfire in front of the lodge, and Xgaiga begins a story, told entirely in Naro. Everyone listens intently, the travellers around me lean in when Dinah starts her translation, in anticipation but also to warm ourselves by the fire. The story is about how the dog became man’s friend, while the jackal remains wild. Dancing ensues, and community members and travellers alike join in a circle around the flames.

It dawns on me how profound it is to experience the San practicing their culture, on land that they own outright themselves. Indigenous people around the world struggle to regain lands taken from them and to practice traditions that were even made illegal. It’s so important that places such as the Dqae Qare San Lodge are preserved, and helping it grow is a task Planeterra has been dedicated to since this first visit.

The prosperity of the lodge has a direct correlation with the development of the D’Kar community and the employment of its people. The more Planeterra can invest in the infrastructure of the lodge, the more profit Dqae Qare can invest straight into the community projects they’re dedicated to providing – like support for the area’s schools, churches, and even a clean water project taken on by the Kuru Development Trust. This GivingTuesday, we’re asking for support to help with upgrades to the lodge so Dqae Qare can continue to grow, employ more community members from D’Kar, and so many more travellers can enjoy learning and celebrating the way of the San.

From the Field – The Lusumpuko Women’s Club

May 3, 2019 Planeterra Indigenous People, Meals, News + Blog, Our Projects

HOPE AND INSPIRATION FOR OTHERS

The 20 women of the Lusumpuko Women’s Club chose this name with the hope that they would be able to lift themselves and their communities out of the harsh realities brought on by the economic situation in Zimbabwe. The ladies founded the chicken rearing co-operative as a way to create income for their households, and to help and inspire other, younger ladies to do the same.

How It Started

“It’s our dream to help more women in our community,”

says Lusumpuko president Linda Makarutse, and Merlyn Mpofu, Lusumpuko’s secretary, chimes in:

“The problem now is some of our age group and youth, they are not educated enough to get a job in the tourism industry. There is a need for hospitality training classes, and opportunities for women and youth here in Victoria Falls.”

With this in mind, Planeterra began supporting the co-operative in 2018, and the ladies of Lusumpuko got to receive basic business training. The co-operative also received a grant to help kick-start a meal service in the tourist town of Victoria Falls. This investment helped them purchase much-needed catering equipment, such as pots, a gas cooker, and serving utensils. They also got the chance to empower a different women’s co-operative by purchasing uniforms made from locally sourced chitenge fabric. The launch of their new catering business helped Lusumpuko increase their combined income of about $600 USD to more than four times as much per month, thus significantly improving their quality of life and enabling them to provide for their children while supporting other members of the community.

The meal service is a hearty buffet of traditional Zimbabwean food, as well as an enjoyable experience observing the preparation by the co-operative members. Travellers going through Victoria Falls have the opportunity to enjoy an array of home-cooked Zimbabwean delicacies. This has not only been financially beneficial for the ladies, but emotionally fulfilling for them as well. Most of the ladies will admit to finding a sense of purpose and validation as they can now depend on themselves to take care of their households.

Members of the co-operative used to do odd jobs in the community, like selling floor polish, providing cleaning services, or selling crafts across the border into Zambia or Botswana. Now, they have weekly work using their skills, practicing English, and interacting with international travellers, while many have dreams to one day expand the co-operative to provide other tourism services, like transport.

First G Adventures travellers visit Native Grill

April 4, 2019 Planeterra Indigenous People, Meals, News + Blog, Our Projects

“NAVAJO SOUL FOOD”

It’s hard to miss the flags and signs of the Native Grill, a family-owned business along Route 89, nestled on Navajo Nation’s western side. It’s lunchtime on a Tuesday and the food truck, with the caption “Navajo Soul Food,” is busy with customers wanting to taste the authentic Navajo cuisine of frybread taco, dumpling stew and grilled local lamb. The kitchen is busy, as the family’s grandmother cooks frybreads for the pending G Adventures group of 12 who are about to arrive.

Her daughter Alfreida, who’s from the area, started the family food truck in 2013 by attending the Tuba City Fair, and operated in that town until a Burger King opened and forced them out some time later. Undeterred, Alfreida and her family carried on.

“There were days where we made no sales, but we stuck it out,” says Alfreida. “I’d be up prepping at 4:30 in the morning, but as time went along I figured things out.” Eventually, she gained her business license in 2016 and set up just south of the town of Cameron.

This area of Navajo Nation is in particular need of entrepreneurs like Alfreida, as it was under the Bennett Freeze between 1966 and 2009, which outlawed any infrastructure development. This meant houses couldn’t be built, water and gas lines couldn’t be laid, and roads couldn’t be mended, to name just a few of the ways the area’s development was stifled. Still today, it’s estimated that almost 60% of houses in the area do not have electricity, and the majority do not have potable water.

Improvements To The Native Grill

Planeterra partnered with Indigenous business incubator DineHozho, who have helped oversee a grant earmarked for improvements to the Native Grill. Today’s visitors are enjoying new picnic tables, a hand-washing station, and a brand new shade structure which will be especially handy during the hot desert summers. Native Grill’s operations have also been assisted by upgrades to their solar and generator systems.

As the group of G Adventures travellers arrive, they line up at the window to confirm their order for Navajo Tacos, and decide which toppings they’d like on their frybread, as three generations of Alfreida’s family work together in unison in the kitchen.

It may be these four running the Native Grill this afternoon, but to them, the entire community is considered family, and they assist as many people as they can.

“We do what we can at a local level to help the elderly, and during Christmas and Thanksgiving we do turkey baskets and deliver it to people that live off the main road like 15-20 miles away, all the way at the base of the mountain,” explains Alfreida.

With more income from regular G Adventures groups (somewhere between 15-24 customers will be visiting twice a week during the summer months), Native Grill will be able to assist the community even more, not to mention grow the business. Although the food is delicious and the group enjoys their meal under the shade, the highlight of the afternoon is the family coming out to introduce themselves to the travellers, who eagerly ask questions in an effort to learn more about what it’s like to live on Navajo Nation. In the end, this is so much more of a meal stop – it’s an opportunity to learn about the resilience and entrepreneurship of the Diné (more commonly known as the Navajo) and how travellers should make an effort to stop at the small businesses that dot the roadsides if they’d like to learn more and give back to this community.

Updates from Colombia

November 8, 2017 Rhea Simms Communities, Indigenous People, Tours

Planeterra has been working with Wiwa Tours in Colombia to set up a social enterprises owned and operated by the Wiwa community of Gotsezhy along the Lost City Trek. A series of enterprises along the trek have opened up new income generation opportunities for the community, including a training kitchen, meal and handicraft experiences. In the last months before launching the experience for G Adventures’ travellers, the community members are putting final touches on the experience. This project works to provide income opportunities for 100 community members. An investment from Planeterra and Live Out There, along with the support of G Adventures, has created a unique new opportunity for the Gotsezhy community to thrive in tourism. Check out some of the latest photos of their progress:

Tyson Travel visits the Clean Cookstoves Project

June 5, 2017 Planeterra Communities, Events, Indigenous People, News + Blog, Stories from the Field

During his 14-day Tanzanian trip with G Adventures, Australian travel blogger Tyson Mayr visited the Maasai Clean Cookstoves Project in Monduli. This project partnered with Planeterra in 2014, and together we’ve seen more than 250 stoves installed across various Maasai communities. The project has trained more than 75 women to create stoves that reduce harmful air pollution in rural homes, and recently expanded to include the installation of solar panels.

Hear from Tyson himself about his experience

“I was very lucky to have spent time with a Maasai Tribe earlier this year as I learnt about The Cookstove Project that Planeterra Foundation supports. Travelling the world has opened my eyes to a lot of different things, especially around the way we all live our lives. But the one common trait I always seem to find, is a simple smile spreads quicker amongst people, then any hate ever will!”

Watch Tyson’s video below

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Bolivia Community Project Leaders Visit Cusco, Perú

June 2, 2017 Rhea Simms Accommodation, Events, Indigenous People

In April 2017 five community members from Jukil Community Lodge in Bolivia travelled to Cusco, Perú as part of a week-long internship program supported by Planeterra. The trip’s purpose was to contribute to the strengthening of their knowledge about social enterprise management in the tourism industry, to exchange good practices between the communities, and also to provide the necessary tools to improve their tourism program. This experience allowed unique indigenous groups from different countries to interact and learn more about one another’s culture. With many of the community tourism leaders in Bolivia never travelling before, it was an experience of a lifetime to see a new culture from a traveller’s perspective.

The intern group included one community leader, the lodge manager, two women, and a youth leader. Before travelling, the interns took part in workshops to imagine the communities that they would visit, as well as how they envisioned their own own community enterprise growing in the coming years.

The interns lived as travellers for two days to understand how tourists feel in other countries and to experience the local services. Another day was spent learning about community tourism operations, and one day spent having meetings with other community leaders to better understand how they are managing their tourism business through training modules provided by the Planeterra field team. The interns also visited the G Adventures local office in Cusco – giving them a better overview of the logistics that go behind an effective tourism program.

It was an amazing trip because some community members had never travelled before, and they were feeling nervous, shy, and excited to see and talk with their peers for first time. After the internship experience, they were able to communicate their experiences to the rest of their community: Interns presented what they learned with the help of facilitators showing photographs and videos to convey what they learned.

They worked all together on a plan to improve their community business; including a list of possible actions and needs for the community. These plans are being used to create a robust improvement plan to better the services provided at Jukil Community Lodge in the future.

The internship program provided community leaders with a space for sharing experiences and lessons learned for their community enterprises, and to reflect on challenges and opportunities. It also provided an opportunity to analyze and understand tourism dynamics and the potential impact on the social, cultural, economic and environmental dimension of community life.

As manager for the region, Joel Callanaupa stated that “Seeing their smiles and excited conversations with other communities Planeterra works with, as well as the interaction between distinct indigenous communities, was incredibly meaningful, and unforgettable.”

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Construction Underway in Colombia

June 1, 2017 Rhea Simms Indigenous People, Stories from the Field

Planeterra has partnered with Wiwa Tours, the only indigenous tour operator on the Lost City Trek in Colombia, to develop opportunities in tourism for the Kogui and Wiwa indigenous groups along the trek.
Check the progress that communities members are making in Sierra Nevada:

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Celebrating Indigenous Peoples around the globe

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION BY INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD.

HOW YOU CAN CELEBRATE THE WAY OF THE SAN

HOW YOU CAN CELEBRATE THE WAY OF THE SAN

Visiting Dqae Qare

From the Field – The Lusumpuko Women’s Club

HOPE AND INSPIRATION FOR OTHERS

How It Started

First G Adventures travellers visit Native Grill

“NAVAJO SOUL FOOD”

Improvements To The Native Grill

Updates from Colombia

Tyson Travel visits the Clean Cookstoves Project

Help Us Create More Opportunities

Bolivia Community Project Leaders Visit Cusco, Perú

Help Us Create More Opportunities

Construction Underway in Colombia

The Wiwa community has been transporting construction materials to the village by donkey.

Community members have integrated indigenous construction knowledge with modern techniques.

The architect installed a machine that allowed community members to make environmentally-friendly bricks.

Community members were trained on how to use the machine to effectively produce building materials.

The community has begun to lay the foundation for the kitchen and dining room floor.

This building will become the bathroom and showers for travellers.

This building will be a place for lounging and hammocks. It is being constructed completely with bamboo, a traditional building material in Sierra Nevada.

Wiwas traditionally use palm as roofing materials. These techniques have been deeply integrated into construction plans.

This building will become the dining area for travellers in the Wiwa community.

Community members are making great progress in laying the brick walls on the kitchen building.

This indigenous owned and operated tourism enterprise will support the livelihoods of over 100 Kogui and Wiwa people.

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Construction Underway in Colombia