News Bites

According to an article in the Santa Fe New Mexican ( http://www.freenewmexican.com ), U. S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who represented Colorado from 1993 to 2005, advised that cultural tourism – not casinos – is the best path for economic development for Native American Indian tribes. His comments were made to the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe last week. He is a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.

Campbell pointed out that six tribes have built RV parks to cater to that segment of the American traveling public. He went on to add that he knows of eight more RV parks in the planning stages.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida is one of the nationÂ’s most successful tribes in tourism development, although they have done so on the back of six casinos on reservation land. The Seminoles have used the increased visitor traffic to explain their culture to non-Seminoles. They have offered swamp tours and hunting expeditions at their Big Cypress Reservation and have a very informative museum of Seminole history and culture, Ah-Tha-Tiki, also at Big Cypress.

The more familiar non-Indians become with Native culture, the more they come to appreciate the work of Native American artists.

Aboriginals: Art of the First Person offers a collection of web sites that not only present items of tribal origin for sale but also attempt to explain the culture and traditions that foster their creation. For more information, visit http://www.ZuniLink.com (fetish carvings), http://www.Native_JewelryLink.com (Navajo, Hopi, Isleta, Santa Domingo and Zuni jewelry) http://www.Native-PotteryLink.com (Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, SIldefonsonso, Santa Clara, and other pueblo pottery) or http://www.TribalWorks.com (miscellaneous tribal art and artifacts from Africa, Australia and the Arctic.)

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